a paradox due to which well-being is lost, but satisfaction is gained

This eudaimonic well-being can be experienced by both men and women, although, as Meehan and Burke detail, in the case of mothers it depends on how balanced parenting tasks are with their husbands. Their conclusion is that happiness does not depend on the decision to have children or not, but on whether a person has control over this issue and whether he has the necessary support.

Nelson and his team based their analysis on the intersection of three previous studies in which they asked about the level of happiness and satisfaction in their lives. The first one showed that those who had children reported at a higher level that they had a very positive life compared to others. Second, parents felt better in their daily lives as a result of parenthood. Lastly, respondents who had children expressed higher levels of positive feelings about the simple fact of caring for their children. Parents reported the highest levels of happiness in all three studies.