According to studies, the first few years of married couples are filled with happiness. Over the course of their lives, they start feeling less satisfied. They are most unhappy when their children are in diapers and adolescence. They only go back to their previous level of happiness when their children grow up and move away. People are happier when eating, shopping, watching television or exercising, than when interacting with their children. This is according to the study conducted by psychologists. In fact, housework chores make most people about as happy as an act of parenting. Economists have realized that children have a small negative impact on the overall happiness of individuals. .
In his essay, "Does Fatherhood Make You Happy," Daniel Gilbert (2009) tries to show that once a child is born, the Parents happiness dissolves and the child is considered a burden (775). This is a deductible argument as the essay's logic is defensible throughout. The married couples are the main audience of the essay.
Sonora Smart Dodd decided that her widower father who had raised six children deserved his national holiday when she was listening to a sermon on self-sacrifice (776). People spend the third Sunday in June honoring their fathers almost a century later. Many fathers have been led to thinking the same thought: "My children make me happy." (776) This assumption according to studies is wrong. Children don't make parents happy. In fact, they more often make the fathers more miserable because of the added stress and chore. "The only symptom of empty nest syndrome," Gilbert said, "is non-stop smiling." (776) The studies show that on average, parents are happier when their children are old enough and have moved out to live on their own.
It is hard to accept these findings because they don't seem reasonable. Parents wonder why the scientific data is at odds with their personal experiences.