Girl or boy? Parents who have these children are among the world’s happiest, says new study

Does having a daughter or a son make a difference to how happy parents feel? A new study from China has found an interesting pattern. Parents who had only daughters reported higher levels of happiness than those who had only sons. The association was particularly strong among parents with ‘two daughters,’ according to the study. But the researchers are careful about what the finding means. The study does not show that having daughters causes parents to be happier. Researchers Zhong Fei and Wenqin Jin examined six waves of data from the Chinese General Social Survey collected between 2012 and 2021. The study looked at the relationship between parenthood, the number of children, the gender composition of children and reported happiness.Parents with daughters reported higher happinessThe study found that parents with only daughters tended to report higher happiness than parents with only sons. Among different combinations of children, the association was strongest for parents with two daughters. The pattern was not the same across every group. According to the researchers, the association between having all-female children and higher reported happiness was strongest among middle-aged parents. It also varied according to factors such as whether parents lived in urban or rural areas and their gender.This is not the first research to examine the relationship between children's gender and parents' happiness in China. A 2021 study published in the Chinese Journal of Sociology, also examined children's gender composition alongside other aspects of family life and happiness. That study found a slightly higher happiness score among parents with only daughters compared with parents with only sons, although the difference was not statistically significant in that analysis.Why might daughters be linked with higher happiness?The researchers discuss several possible explanations related to family relationships and China's social context, but these should not be treated as proven causes. Earlier research has examined how adult children affect the well-being of Chinese parents. A 2021 study found that children's characteristics, including their education and marital status, were associated with parents' happiness, and that these relationships could change at different stages of life.Research on older adults in China has also found differences in the kinds of support associated with sons and daughters. One study using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study found that older adults with only daughters were more similar to those with children of both sexes than to those with only sons when it came to receiving economic support.The study has an important limitationThe most important point is that this was an observational study based on survey data. It found associations between children's number or gender composition and parents' reported happiness; it did not prove cause and effect. In other words, the research cannot establish that having two daughters makes a parent happier. There may be many other factors affecting happiness, including income, health, marriage, location, family relationships and the kind of support parents receive from their adult children.There is also a cultural limitation. The study used data from China, so its findings cannot automatically be applied to parents in India, the US, Europe or other countries. Family roles, expectations around sons and daughters and relationships between parents and adult children differ considerably between societies.So, are parents of daughters happier? Well, the study provides an interesting answer, but not a universal one.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ testGet the latest Lifestyle News and more. Download the TOI app.