Childrearing, Gender, and Well-being in Cross-national Context

• In Event: 1483 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 14. Gender, Race, and Childrearing

Abstract

Previous research suggests that raising children has mixed effects on well-being and mental health outcomes. However, much of the existing literature has failed to examine the extent to which these mixed findings may be explained by discrepant definitions of childrearing, inconsistent conceptualizations and measurement of well-being outcome(s), varied country contexts from which samples are drawn, and interactions with participant characteristics (e.g., gender). To address these limitations, the present study examined and compared within-county variability between individuals with and without minor children in the home (and variability by gender) across 15 countries and six indicators of well-being (i.e., relationship satisfaction, relationship disagreement, work-to-family and family-to-work spillover, depressive symptoms, and social integration). Drawing on Generations and Gender Survey data from 61,248 partnered, coresiding adults living with or without children under age 18, I used ordinary least squares and fixed-effects regression models to address study questions. Underscoring the importance of examining within-country and within-group variability, results indicated that childrearing was not universally detrimental across dimensions of well-being, countries, and country groups. In contrast to previous research, surprisingly few childrearing disparities were statistically significant, indicating few mental health costs (though no benefits) of childrearing in this predominantly European sample. Larger disparities may be costly to partnership stability, fertility, children’s mental health, and social and gender equality, and may reflect a mismatch between individuals’ needs, cultural or religious attitudes, and policies to support households with children.

Author

• Natalie D. Hengstebeck