More Children, More Happiness: HSE Experts Study Impact of Number of Children on Russians' Assessment of Happiness
Russians with children feel happier than those without children. At the same time, the number of children influences the assessment of happiness: the more children Russians have, the happier they feel. These conclusions were outlined in the report ‘More Children, More Happiness: The Impact of the Number of Children on Russians’ Assessment of Happiness,’ presented at the XXV Yasin (April) International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development, held on April 15–18 at HSE University. The study was conducted by Elena Churilova, Senior Research Fellow, and Dmitry Jdanov, Chief Research Fellow at HSE International Laboratory for Population and Health.
The study revealed that having one child increases the respondent's happiness score by 0.38, two children by 0.52, and three or more children by 0.72. At the same time, the inclusion of additional control variables of marital status and educational level does not change the vector of this correlation.
The impact of the number of children on the feeling of happiness hasn’t been assessed in Russia before. Therefore, HSE experts additionally reviewed data from the World Values Survey 2017. Although the questions about happiness were formulated differently and ordinal scales of different dimensions were used in the studies, the trend was confirmed. According to the World Values Survey 2017, Russians with children felt happier than those without children.
The comparison of two studies (one was conducted in turbulent circumstances in 2022 and the other in the comparatively calm 2017) shows that even in crisis conditions, the number of children still affects the level of happiness, notes Elena Churilova. ‘One of the conclusions that we can draw is that parenthood actually makes Russians happier, and parents with two and more children feel happier than those with one child,’ say the HSE experts.
Elena Churilova
Elena Churilova notes that the influence of the number of children on the feeling of happiness is more clearly observed among Russians over 40 and mothers with many children. This may be due to the fact that the average maternal age in Russia is quite young; by the age of 39, most parents have experienced difficult periods: the first years of a child's life, first school years, adolescence. In addition, at this age, parents, as a rule, incur high financial expenses for the care and education of children. In the age group of Russians over 40, a large number of children in the family makes it easier to overcome the ‘empty nest syndrome’ when older children leave their parents' home. ‘In addition, having several adult children makes the social circle wider, and allows parents in older age to count on financial and non-financial support from their grown-up children,’ says Elena Churilova.
About the Study
The study used data from a sample representative of the adult population of Russia conducted as part of the International Social Survey Programme in October–November 2022. The total number of respondents was 1,604 men and women aged 18 to 87. In order to identify the influence of the number of children on a respondent's subjective assessment of happiness, a linear regression model was built. Separate models were built for respondents aged 20–39, 40 and older, as well as for a combination of age, gender, and the presence of a spouse or partner. The average self-assessment of happiness among Russians in the sample was 5.38. The average number of children per respondent was 1.45.
