parenthood, childlessness, and well-being: a life course perspective

DEBRA UMBERSON, TETYANA PUDROVSKA, AND CORINNE RECZEK University of Texas at Austin

Parenthood, Childlessness, and Well-Being: A Life

Course Perspective

This article reviews recent research (1999 –2009) on the effects of parenthood on well-being. We use a life course framework toconsider how parenting and childlessness influ-ence well-being throughout the adult life course.We place particular emphasis on social con-texts and how the impact of parenthood onwell-being depends on marital status, gender,race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Wealso consider how recent demographic shiftslead to new family arrangements that have impli-cations for parenthood and well-being. Theseinclude stepparenting, parenting of grandchil-dren, and childlessness across the life course.

Parenthood is a transformative experience—im-posing a unique mix of stress and rewards forthose who enter (Nomaguchi & Milkie, 2003).At least since McLanahan and Adam’s (1987)review, social scientists have generally con-cluded that, at least when children are young, thecosts appear to outweigh the benefits in termsof effects on parents’ well-being. At the sametime, research on later life families has gener-ally concluded that adult children tend to havepositive effects on parents’ well-being. Individ-uals who remain childless typically serve asa comparison group for those with minor andadult children but, given their growing num-bers, childlessness has become an important

Department of Sociology and Population Research Center,University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station A1700,Austin, TX 78712 ([email protected]).

Key Words: childlessness, life course, parenthood, well-being.

research destination on its own right. Over the2000s, research on the effects of parenthood onwell-being has evolved in new directions—withgreater theoretical nuance, attention to diversity,and the use of valuable longitudinal and quali-tative data sets. We use a life course frameworkto organize a review of studies on parenthoodand well-being that were published over thepast decade and to suggest future directions forresearch on parenthood and well-being.

Given the long-standing view that parent-hood carries both costs and benefits for parents’well-being, a significant advance over the pastdecade is the inclusion of measures that tapinto various dimensions of well-being. This isparticularly important because it appears thatparenthood and parenting may be more relevantto some dimensions of well-being than othersat different points in the life course. Over the2000s, the majority of studies on parenthoodand well-being included a general measure ofpsychological distress or well-being, but stud-ies have assessed other aspects of well-beingincluding a sense of meaning and purpose inlife, self-efficacy, loneliness, health behaviors,and physical health. In this review, we definewell-being broadly in order to capture possiblecosts and benefits of parenthood for well-beingacross social groups and over the life course. Weuse the term ‘‘parenthood,’’ to refer to being aparent versus remaining childless. ‘‘Parenting’’and ‘‘parental status’’ refer to different types ofparents or parenting situations (e.g., based onage or living arrangements of children). ‘‘Con-texts’’ refers to socially structured contexts ofparenthood as shaped by gender, marital status,socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity.

612 Journal of Marriage and Family 72 (June 2010): 612 – 629DOI:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00721.x

Parenthood, Childlessness, and Well-Being 613

A LIFE COURSE FRAMEWORK

Research on parenthood, parenting, and well-being is comprised of two largely separateliteratures, one focusing on the effects of parent-hood and young children on well-being duringearly to middle adulthood and the other focusingon the effects of parenthood and adult childrenon well-being during middle to late adulthood.We suggest that a life course perspective beused to integrate these two bodies of work.These literatures can inform one another inways that advance future research and theoryon parenthood and well-being. Early parentingexperiences do not become irrelevant to par-ents’ well-being after children grow up. Rather,early life course experiences have long-termimplications for well-being throughout middleand later life (Ha, Hong, Seltzer, & Greenberg,2008). A life course perspective directs atten-tion to continuity and change in well-being overthe life course and suggests how parenthoodand the ‘‘linked lives’’ of parents and childreninfluence trajectories of change in well-beingover time (Milkie, Bierman, & Schieman, 2008).A life course perspective also takes inequalityinto account by emphasizing that individualsvary in their exposure to stressors and resourcesthroughout life. Differential exposure to environ-mental risks and resources around parenthoodcan produce increasing disadvantage for thewell-being of some and increasing advantagefor others (Kendig, Dykstra, van Gaalen, &Melkas, 2007). This approach recognizes humanagency and resilience as well as heterogeneity inrelationships and life course experiences. Thus,individual choice and a sense of personal controlin making decisions about parenthood may playan important role in shaping the effects of par-enthood on well-being (Keeton, Perry-Jenkins,& Sayer, 2008).

We surveyed leading family journals insociology, psychology, and gerontology andreviewed articles pertaining to any aspect ofparenthood or parenting in relation to a mea-sure of well-being. We also reviewed booksthat addressed this topic. Because of spaceconstraints and a voluminous literature, thepresent review is selective but also compre-hensive in identifying major strands in recentresearch. Major findings and themes from thepast decade are discussed in four broad areas:(a) childlessness, (b) transition to parenthood,(c) minor children, and (d) adult children.

CHILDLESSNESS AND WELL-BEING

Although recent research focuses primarily onthe effects of parenting on the well-being of dif-ferent types of parents, there remains an under-lying assumption that being a parent, comparedto remaining childless, influences well-being.Recent decades have witnessed a trend towardincreased childlessness and delayed childbear-ing. In 1975, 15.6% of women age 30 – 34 and10.5% of women between 35 and 39 werechildless. These percentages rose to 28% and20%, respectively, in 2000 (U.S. Census Bureau,2006). Not surprisingly, interest in the psycho-logical implications of childlessness has alsoincreased. Recent studies suggest that parentsof minor children are more distressed thantheir childless counterparts (e.g., Nomaguchi &Milkie, 2003). In contrast, parents of adult chil-dren report levels of distress and well-being thatare similar to those of the childless (Evenson &Simon, 2005; Pudrovska, 2008). Both types ofeffects depend on the social context of childless-ness and parenting.

Generally, childless young adults report betterwell-being than parents (Nomaguchi & Milkie,2003), although one study found that child-lessness in young adulthood may be stressfulin the context of thwarted fertility intentions,especially for women with lower family income(McQuillan, Greil, White, & Jacob, 2003). Asfor childlessness at midlife, Koropeckyj-Cox,Pienta, and Brown (2007) analyzed national,cross-sectional data to compare the well-beingof childless women and mothers in their 50sand found that childlessness was not associatedwith worse psychological outcomes in midlife.It was women who became mothers early inthe life course who experienced lower well-being—largely because of marital disruption andfewer socioeconomic resources.

Several recent studies have explicitly com-pared the well-being of parents and the childlessin later life. This issue is more relevant nowthan in the past because of increasing longevity,lower marriage rates, and increasing numbers ofchildless individuals—a combination of factorsthat may contribute to greater isolation and dis-tress in older populations (Zhang & Hayward,2001). Zhang and Hayward analyzed a nationalcross-section of Americans age 70 and older andconcluded that any effects of childlessness onwell-being were apparent only within the con-text of marital status and gender. Childlessness

614 Journal of Marriage and Family

was associated with higher rates of depres-sion and loneliness, but only for unmarriedmen. Consistent with this U.S. finding, a cross-national study based on data from Australia,Finland, and the Netherlands revealed that for-merly married men who were also childlessreported particularly poor health (Kendig et al.,2007). In contrast, unmarried childless womenappeared to fare well in later life.

Bures, Koropeckyj-Cox, and Loree (2009)analyzed a national cross section of mid- andlate-life adults and found that the childless exhib-ited less depression than parents. This positiveimage is further supported by cross-national datashowing that never married childless women hadhigh levels of social activity (Wenger, Dykstra,Melkas, & Knipscheer, 2007) and were morehighly educated than other groups of women(Koropeckyj-Cox & Call, 2007). Socioeconomicand personal resources may shape expectationsand meanings of parenthood and, in turn, thesesymbolic meanings influence well-being. Forexample, Koropeckyj-Cox (2002) found that,among the childless (age 50 – 84), negativeattitudes toward childlessness were associatedwith lower levels of well-being (more loneli-ness and depression), and, among parents, worsethan expected relationships with adult childrenwere associated with lower well-being. Thus,structural factors may shape the probability ofchildlessness as well as moderate the conse-quences of childlessness on well-being.

In sum, just as parenthood is not a monolithicexperience that affects well-being, childless-ness is not the same experience for all indi-viduals. The available evidence suggests thatchildlessness has few costs for psychologicalwell-being and may even be associated withenhanced well-being, at least for certain socialgroups. Social contexts shape the meaning, expe-rience, and consequences of childlessness inways that may undermine well-being for someselect groups (e.g., young women facing infer-tility and older unmarried men). Parenthood isincreasingly viewed as a matter of choice, andvoluntary childlessness has become more com-mon. Yet there are also qualitative accounts ofsuccessful career oriented women who delaychildbearing until it is too late to have chil-dren and then experience distress (Hewlett,2002). Given heterogeneity among the child-less, we do not have a solid understanding ofdifferent life course pathways that lead to child-lessness, and these pathways are likely to have

different implications for personal well-being.Future research should consider the reasonsfor childlessness as well as consequences forwell-being. Moreover, the cultural meanings ofchildlessness have changed over recent decades,suggesting the possibility that effects will varyacross cohorts and over historical time. With afew exceptions (e.g., White & McQuillan, 2006),existing research on childlessness is limitedby cross-sectional designs and future researchshould consider how the effects of childlessnessmay change over time as well as across socialgroups and cohorts.

TRANSITION TO PARENTHOOD

A theme of the 2000s is that parenthood, per se,does not predict well-being in a systematic way.Most studies over the past decade have workedto identify specific social contexts in whichparenthood fosters well-being or distress. Wefirst consider how the transition to parenthoodis associated with well-being and then considerhow parenting (of minor and adult children)influences well-being across diverse socialcontexts. A life course perspective emphasizesthe importance of major life transitions intriggering shifts in well-being (Elder, Johnson,& Crosnoe, 2003). The transition to parenthoodis a pivotal life course transition (Knoester &Eggebeen, 2006), and many studies in the 2000sfocused on the timing of this transition in the lifecourse. Demographic research on childbearingand the timing of first births has longemployed a life course perspective to reveal howsocioeconomic antecedents and consequences ofearly childbearing create life course trajectoriesof cumulative disadvantage for parents. Earlytransition to parenthood, particularly duringthe teen years, has been associated withtruncated educational and work opportunitiesand increased marital instability (Hofferth, Reid,& Mott, 2001)—all factors that might underminewell-being in the short and long term (Booth,Rustenback, & McHale, 2008). Early transitionto parenthood is a contemporary concern giventhe recent upturn in teenage pregnancy afternearly a decade of teenage pregnancy decline(Santelli, Lindberg, Diaz, & Orr, 2009).

A few recent studies consider the impactof early parenting transitions on mental health,with a focus on young adulthood. Booth andcolleagues (2008) analyzed a longitudinal sam-ple of young adults and found that, although


socioeconomically disadvantaged adults weremore likely to make early transitions to parent-hood, they were not at increased risk for depres-sion 5 years later. The authors concluded thatearly transitions ‘‘can be rational and sound’’(p. 12) for certain individuals. This upbeat con-clusion dovetails with Edin and Kefalas’s (2005)qualitative (in-depth interview) study on earlyparenthood for poor women. Although they didnot focus on well-being, they concluded thatpoor women (age 15 to 56, average age 25)often viewed parenthood as a way to find mean-ing and purpose amidst limited life chances(notably, this study does not compare youngmothers to their childfree peers or those whodelayed parenthood). Knoester and Eggebeen(2006) considered the effects of transition tofatherhood for men (age 19 to 65) with a nationallongitudinal sample and, similar to Booth andcolleagues, found no significant effect on men’spsychological well-being. Taylor (2009), usingthe Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), com-pared the psychological well-being of midlifeadults who had children before and after the ageof 20 and also found no significant effects ofearly childbirth on men’s or women’s psycho-logical well-being.

In contrast to these studies, Mirowsky andRoss (2002) analyzed a cross section of individ-uals age 18 to 95 and concluded that early transi-tions to parenthood are associated with increasedrisk for depression. They found that men andwomen who have their first child prior to age 23are more depressed than their childless peers butthat, after age 23, those who have a child are lessdepressed than the childless. This suggests thatlater or on-time transition to parenthood mightactually benefit well-being. Men experienced amonotonic increase in benefits the longer theydelayed their first child. Women experiencedincreased benefits from age 23 to 30, but notbeyond this age. These findings may contrastwith the Booth and Eggebeen studies becauseMirowsky and Ross considered long-term lifecourse effects of early parenthood on depressionrather than short-term effects of the transitionexperience among young adults. Although theMirowsky study relied on cross-sectional data,it is unlikely that retrospective reports of ageat first birth are biased. Adverse effects ofearly parenting transitions were also reportedby Henretta (2007), whose longitudinal analysisshowed that age at first birth was associated withincreased mortality risk for women who gave

birth prior to age 20. Similarly, Taylor (2009)found that, at midlife, those who became parentsbefore the age of 20 had worse self-rated healththan those who became parents after the age of20, and Spence (2008) found that early tran-sition to parenthood was associated with moredepression and activity limitations in late life.

Apart from age at first birth, effects of thetransition to parenthood on well-being dependon gender and marital status. Nomaguchi andMilkie’s (2003) longitudinal analysis showedthat, compared to their married counterparts,unmarried men and women transitioning to par-enthood experienced a reduction in self-efficacy,and unmarried men experienced an increasein psychological distress. Married women whotransitioned to parenthood were less distressedthan their childless counterparts, whereas thetransition to parenthood had no effect on mar-ried men’s distress levels. Woo and Raley (2005)extended this work to include cohabitors. Theyfound that, compared to new mothers who wereeither married or single, cohabiting women whotransitioned to parenthood experienced a greaterdecline in psychological well-being. Cohabitingfathers experienced lower levels of depres-sion than single fathers. Keeton and colleagues(2008) studied the impact of the transition toparenthood on well-being for 1 year follow-ing births to working class dual earner couples.They found that a sense of control mediated theimpact of parenthood on well-being among thesecouples. Marital quality may also mediate theimpact of parenthood transitions on well-being.Two recent longitudinal studies of new par-ents found that mothers who perceived moresupport from their partner were less likely toexperience an increase in depressive symptomsfollowing the birth of a child (Smith & Howard,2008). Women who were ambivalent about theirmarital relationship and perceived less supportfrom husbands experienced a greater increase indepressive symptoms following the transition toparenthood (Simpson, Rholes, Campbell, Tran,& Wilson, 2003).

In sum, recent research emphasizes thatthe well-being of new parents cannot befully understood without considering the timingand context of the transition to parenthood.Becoming a parent may be a profound stressor,with negative long-term consequences for somepeople and an important source of well-being forothers. Yet recent studies provide mixed resultson the long-term implications of early age at


first birth. Emphasis on the contextual nature ofnew parenthood is consistent with the life courseperspective that draws attention to heterogeneityamong individuals experiencing the sametransition under different circumstances and atdifferent stages of the life course. Emphasison context is particularly important, givendemographic changes in age and marital status atfirst birth as well as the role of new reproductivetechnologies that facilitate childbearing at olderages (Friese, Becker, & Nachtigall, 2006;Santelli et al., 2009). Future research shouldcontinue to emphasize parenthood within thecontext of these trends. We now turn to studiesthat move beyond the transition to parenthood tofocus on the effects of young children on parents.

MINOR CHILDREN IN SOCIAL CONTEXT

Parents of minor children report higher levels ofdistress than do parents of adult children or child-less individuals in national surveys (Evenson& Simon, 2005). The primary explanation isthat the presence of young children increasesexposure to significant stressors, including dailydemands and time constraints of parenting,increased strain between parents, and work-family conflict. In turn, stress underminesparental well-being. For example, Wickramaand colleagues (2001) found that parental stresswas positively associated with increased risk forearly onset hypertension in a sample of marriedindividuals. Moreover, this effect was signifi-cant for women but not men, reflecting a generaltheme of gender differences in the effects ofparenting on well-being, presumably becausewomen shoulder primary responsibility for childcare, even if they also work outside the home(Bianchi, 2000; Blair-Loy, 2003). Notably, moststudies do not consider possible differences inthe effects of parenting based on age of minorchild (e.g., infant, preschool, teen), althoughsome studies focus specifically on infants orpreschool children (e.g., Jackson, 2000).

Single Parents

A major theme of recent research is that par-enting of minor children is more stressful insome social structural contexts than others. Inparticular, parenthood is associated with higherlevels of distress for the unmarried than the mar-ried (Evenson & Simon, 2005), and unmarriedwomen are at greater risk than unmarried men

(Hughes & Waite, 2002). Hughes and Waiteanalyzed Health and Retirement Survey dataand concluded that single women with children(compared to married women and men livingwith or without children) were more disadvan-taged across a range of health outcomes, includ-ing depressive symptoms, self-rated health,mobility limitation, long-term disability, andchronic conditions. Avison, Ali, and Walters(2007) found that single mothers were more dis-tressed than married mothers over time largelybecause unmarried mothers were exposed tohigher levels of stress across several lifedomains. In particular, single mothers facedmore stress associated with caregiving for fam-ily members, finances, and work-home balance.Avison and colleagues suggest that policy initia-tives aimed at encouraging marriage to enhancethe well-being of single mothers would be betterdirected toward reducing the structural disad-vantage and higher levels of stress that singlemothers confront in their daily lives.

Single father families, virtually nonexistentbefore 1970, constituted more than 18% of allsingle-parent households in 2003 (Fields, 2003).Single fathers may encounter unique stressorsand use coping strategies specific to those stres-sors (Cole, 2009). Future research should beginuncovering how and why these father-only fam-ilies are formed, because the context of singlefatherhood—in addition to the status itself—hasimportant implications for fathers’ well-being.

Married and Cohabiting Parents

The demands and time constraints of parentingalso impose stress on relationships betweenparents (Twenge, Campbell, & Foster, 2003).In turn, relationship strain undermines physicaland psychological well-being (Proulx, Helms, &Buehler, 2007). Although most of the researchon parenting and relationship quality focuses onmarried parents (see Twenge et al. for a review),recent studies also address how parenthoodinfluences relationships between cohabitingparents. Past research suggests that cohabitingprior to marriage is associated with lower maritalquality (Phillips & Sweeny, 2005) but a recentlongitudinal study by Tach and Halpern-Meekin(2009) showed that cohabiting prior to marriageundermined marital quality only for thosecouples who had a child prior to marriage.This is an important finding in light of recentdemographic trends: About 60% of couples now


cohabit prior to marriage, and about half ofall births outside of marriage are to cohabitingparents (Bumpass & Lu, 2000). Changesin the demographic structure of childbearinghave coincided with changes in the meaningand significance of marriage for parents.Childbearing has become increasingly separatedfrom marriage and, for some, marriage nowserves as a capstone of achievement, whereinindividuals and couples seek to achieve financialstability before getting married (Cherlin, 2004)but not necessarily before having children(Edin & Kefalas, 2005). Williams, Sassler, andNicholson (2008) also found that, compared tochildless women, single mothers do not reap thesame physical health benefits of getting married,partly because marital quality is lower for singlemothers. In sum, it appears that premarital birthsset relationship trajectories on a disadvantageouscourse. Future research should consider howongoing relationships between unmarried andpreviously married parents mediate the impactof parenting on well-being.

Stepparents

Roughly one fourth of all families with minorchildren include stepchildren, and about halfof stepfamilies have nonresidential stepchildren(Stewart, 2005) with nearly a third of U.S.children spending some time in a stepparenthousehold (Ganong & Coleman, 2004). Step-family characteristics are highly diverse, withshifting relationship types (stepsiblings, halfsiblings, stepgrandparents), relational dynamics,and living arrangements (Ganong & Coleman).When children are young and require con-tinuous parental care, stepparenthood may beassociated with elevated parental strain that isoften exacerbated by marital conflict, role andboundary ambiguity, and incomplete institution-alization of stepfamilies (Stewart). Stepparent-ing may be especially stressful for stepmothers(Stewart). Because of traditional gender dynam-ics in stepfamilies, stepmothers tend to assumeprimary responsibility for relationships withminor and adult stepchildren and act as kin-keepers in the blended family (Schmeeckle,2007). Yet Kohler, Behrman, and Skytthe (2005)found that having stepchildren in the homereduced self-reports of well-being for men butnot women. For stepparents who remained mar-ried over time, Stewart found that the stressof boundary ambiguity declined with union

duration (for marital and cohabiting unions).Most research on stepfamilies focuses on well-being of children rather than parents. A recentexception, relying on cross-sectional data, indi-cated that adults living with minor stepchildrenwere no more distressed than their childlesspeers (Evenson & Simon, 2005). Future researchshould consider whether selection processes playa role in that individuals who become steppar-ents and remain married may be those who feelmore open to the parenting role.

Given the significant number of adults whostepparent at some point in their lives, it isimportant to consider how stepchildren affectwell-being later in the life course. Evenson andSimon (2005) reported that having nonresiden-tial adult stepchildren was associated with ele-vated levels of distress, relative to the childlessand relative to other parents, but their study islimited by a cross-sectional design. Pudrovska’s(2009) longitudinal analysis showed that havinga stepchild does not compromise mental healthof middle-aged and older adults and that the psy-chological implications of stepparenthood do notdiffer by gender. Whereas women may be moreaffected by enduring parental strains in youngand middle adulthood, the effect of stepparent-hood may be similar for mothers and fathersin later life when men’s and women’s parentalroles tend to become more similar. At this point,research evidence is mixed, and generalizationscannot be drawn. This heterogeneity points to theimportance of context in which the stepparentrole unfolds, including characteristics of parentsand children as well as the quality of familyrelationships. Parents who have both stepchil-dren and their own children may face uniquestressors associated with parenting children withdifferent biological relatedness, contributing togreater psychological distress. Moreover, theexperience of stepparenthood may depend ontiming in the life course—with different effectsfor those who become stepparents of a youngchild, an adolescent, or an adult child. Futureresearch should explore how the effects of step-parenthood are shaped by the joint life coursetrajectories of stepparents and stepchildren.

Grandparents Who Parent

The role of grandchildren in the lives of theirgrandparents has received significant researchattention, but we do not review that overall bodyof research here. Rather, we focus specifically


on grandparents who play a direct parenting rolein caring for their grandchildren. Grandparent-headed households increased by 30% between1990 and 2000, with 63% headed by grandmoth-ers. In 2002, approximately 5.6 million childrenunder age 18 coresided with their grandparents.Of these children, 22.7% resided in a grandpar-ent’s household with no parent present (Fields,2003). African American and Latino adults aremore likely than White adults to be responsi-ble for their grandchildren (African American,4.3%; Latino, 2.9%; White, 1.0%; Goodman &Silverstein, 2006).

Several cross-sectional studies have foundthat grandparent caregivers are in worse phys-ical health than their noncaregiver peers, buta longitudinal study of 12,872 grandparents(age 50 – 80) found ‘‘no evidence that caringfor grandchildren has dramatic and widespreadnegative effects on grandparents’ health andhealth behavior’’ (Hughes, Waite, LaPierre,& Luo, 2007, p. S115). Yet, the effects ofparenting by grandparents should be consid-ered in context. Hughes and colleagues foundthat grandmothers caring for grandchildren in‘‘skipped-generation’’ households (no parentpresent) were more likely than those who copar-ent to experience negative changes in healthbehavior, depression, and self-rated health.Goodman and Silverstein (2006) conducted aseries of studies showing that psychologicaleffects of caring for grandchildren depend onrace/ethnicity and whether grandparents havesole responsibility for grandchildren (custo-dial grandparents) or share responsibility withadult children (coparenting grandparents). Con-trolling for stress resulting from adult chil-dren’s circumstances and precursors of custodialgrandparenting, Goodman and Silverstein foundthat African American custodial grandmothersreported greater well-being than did coparentinggrandmothers. Although this finding is inconsis-tent with Hughes and colleagues, Hughes et al.did not examine race differences in their sam-ple of grandmothers. Greater well-being amongAfrican American custodial grandmothers mayreflect a long historical tradition of surrogateparenting in the African American community.In contrast, the coparenting role is associatedwith greater well-being than is a custodialrole among Latino grandmothers—signifyinga cultural ideal of intergenerational reciprocityand close familial ties. Off-time or nonnorma-tive grandparenting, particularly grandparenting

involving custodial care of grandchildren, ishighly stressful for grandparents (Hughes &Waite, 2002) and younger grandparents are morelikely than older grandparents to perceive theirrole as stressful (Sands & Goldberg-Glen, 2000).Future research should attempt to parse out howmuch of the apparent negative effect of grand-parenthood may be based on selection effects.As skipped-generation families are dispropor-tionately poor and minority (Bryson & Casper,1999), these grandparents would have been dis-advantaged in terms of health even if they hadnot been caring for grandchildren.

Work-Family Stress

Work-family conflict emerged as a researchemphasis beginning in the 1970s, as moth-ers’ labor force participation increased (Milkie,Mattingly, Nomaguchi, Bianchi, & Robinson,2004). Even though female labor force partici-pation has increased over time, the amount oftime that mothers devote to child care has beenstable, whereas fathers devote more time to childcare than in the past (Bianchi, 2000). Researchon work-family conflict continued over the pastdecade, and recent studies clarify that child-carestress is greater for some parents than others, par-ticularly for low-income and single parents andfor women (Crouter & Booth, 2004; Nomaguchi& Milkie, 2003). Although many studies identifythis source of stress, few take the next step to con-sider how child-care stress affects well-being.Nomaguchi, Milkie, and Bianchi (2005) stud-ied dual-earner mothers and fathers and foundthat time strains associated with child care con-tribute to psychological distress for mothers butnot fathers. Meanings attached to work and fam-ily may also influence well-being. Goldberg andPerry-Jenkins (2004) conducted a longitudinalstudy of 97 dual-earner working class couplesand found that partners’ division of child-careduties affects well-being but effects depend ongender ideology—women with more traditionalviews actually experienced more distress whentheir partner provided more care. Although notexamining well-being specifically, Blair-Loy’s(2003) qualitative interviews with workingmothers showed that competing ideologies ofbeing a good mother and a good worker cre-ated distress, tension, and ambivalence regardingworking outside the home and being a mother.Taken together, these studies point to the tensionbetween work and family as a structural factor


that potentially erodes parental well-being andfurther suggest that the degree and effects of thistension depend on social contexts.

Children’s Emotional and Behavioral Problems

One strong line of research over the past decadefocused on stress associated with children’semotional, developmental, and behavioral dis-orders (MacInnes, 2008). Unfortunately, theseproblems are not rare. The National Center forHealth Statistics (2007) reports that 2.1% of chil-dren age 5 – 11 have speech problems, 1.8% havelearning disabilities, 1.1% have mental retar-dation or other developmental problems, and1.2% have other mental, emotional, or behav-ioral problems. Learning disability becomesmore apparent with age: Among children age12 – 27, 2.6% have learning disabilities. Early,Gregoire and McDonald (2002) analyzed 164families of children with emotional disordersover an 18-month period and found that parentalstrain associated with children’s emotional anddevelopmental disorders had significant adverseeffects on parents’ psychological functioning.Gross, Shaw, Moilanen, Dishion, and Wilson(2008) analyzed a sample of parents who hadchildren at risk for conduct disorder over a 2-year period and found that children’s behavioralproblems contributed to mothers’ depression butnot fathers’. A cross-sectional study using dailytelephone interviews with 82 middle-age parentsfound parents of children with disabilities hadelevated levels of negative affect, stress, andphysical symptoms (Seltzer et al., 2009).

A diary study of parents with autistic childrenfound that parents’ coping strategies influencedthe degree to which daily parenting stressorsaffected their well-being (Pottie & Ingram,2008). Parents who used more problem-focused,social support, positive reframing, emotionalregulation, and compromise coping experiencedhigher levels of well-being. This study pointsto personal resources that may buffer parentsfrom the effects of parenting stress. A fewstudies point to the importance of linked livesacross three generations in providing supportfor children with disabilities (for a review, seeMitchell, 2007). For example, S. Green (2001)found that secondary assistance from grandpar-ents helps parents of children with disabilitiesto have a positive outlook and avoid physicalexhaustion. Future research should consider how

personal and social resources that may influencewell-being are distributed across social groups.

Although recent work establishes the impor-tance of children’s problems for parents’ well-being, research in this area has not consideredhow effects might vary across social contexts(e.g., marital status), an emphasis that should beincluded in future research. Moreover, certaincontexts may increase the incidence or sever-ity of children’s problems. For example, studiesshow that multiple family transitions (e.g., mar-riages, divorces, cohabitations) increase chil-dren’s risk for emotional and behavioral distur-bances (see Cherlin, 2009, for a review). Thelife course concept of linked lives points to theimportance of research that considers the parallellife course trajectories of parents’ and children’swell-being.

Summary

Studies clearly establish that parenting stressadversely affects parents’ well-being. There isgeneral consensus that parental stress is greateras individuals make the transition to parent-hood and when children are young (Kluwer& Johnson, 2007). Moreover, individuals incertain social contexts—for example, unmar-ried, women, lower socioeconomic status—aremore likely to experience parenting as stress-ful because they encounter more life strainsaround parenting (Crouter & Booth, 2004). Inturn, parental stress mediates the impact ofminor children on parental well-being. Next,we consider how the strains and rewards ofparenting may change as parents and theirchildren age.

ADULT CHILDREN IN SOCIAL CONTEXT

In a review of 1990s research on familiesof later life, Allen, Bliezner, and Roberto(2000) concluded that research on the effectsof adult children on parents was an importantyet understudied area. The past decade wit-nessed advances in this area with two basicassumptions driving research. First, relation-ships with children remain salient and importantto parents’ well-being throughout life. This isreflected in frequent contact between parentsand adult children and in their mutual exchangeof support and affection (Knoester, 2003; Man-demakers & Dykstra, 2008). Second, the qual-ity of intergenerational relationships matters


for parents’ well-being (Koropeckyj-Cox, 2002;Milkie et al., 2008). Studies consistently showthat emotionally close and supportive ties withadult children enhance parents’ well-being,whereas strained and conflicted relationshipswith children undermine well-being (Knoester).Relationships with adult children are more likelyto be characterized by support than strain, butthe strained aspects of relationships appear tobe more salient for well-being (Knoester). Mostsurvey research on relationships with adult chil-dren has been based on questions about one focalchild or on global reports about relationshipswith all of one’s adult children, but recent stud-ies have shown that a strained relationship withany one child in a family can undermine parentalwell-being even if relationships with other chil-dren are generally positive (Ward, 2008). Likeresearch on parenting minor children, researchon parenting adult children shows that the expe-rience and consequences of parenting for well-being are shaped by social structural contexts ofparenting, perhaps particularly marital status andgender. Studies have shown that divorced fathershave more distant and strained relationships withadult children, whereas divorced mothers mayexperience closer and more supportive relation-ships with adult children (Shapiro, 2003). Itappears that strains with adult children havestronger adverse effects on unmarried parents(Greenfield & Marks, 2006), whereas supportfrom adult children may be particularly ben-eficial to widowed parents (Ha, 2008; Ha,Carr, Utz, & Nesse, 2006). One would fur-ther expect the experience and consequencesof having adult children to vary depending onwhether or not parents share a residence withchildren.

Coresidence of Parents and Adult Children

Research on the effects of coresidential adultchildren on parents’ well-being emerged inthe 1980s and 1990s and, to a lesser extent,continued over the past decade (U.S. CensusBureau, 2007). In 2007, 55% of young menand 47.5% of young women between 18 and24 years lived with their parent(s), and 14.2%and 9.3% of men and women, respectively, age25 – 34 lived with their parents. Adult childrenwho coreside with parents are less likely to bemarried and employed and have lower levelsof education than children living independently(Pudrovska, 2009). Parents’ gender may be an

important consideration in effects of coresidenceon well-being. Purdrovska found that living withadult children (postcollege age) was associ-ated with decreased psychological well-beingfor mothers but not fathers. From a life courseperspective, coresidential adult children violatenormative expectations with regard to the timingof nest leaving. The parenting role may be moresalient to women’s sense of self, so that raisingindependent and successful children is partic-ularly important to mothers’ well-being (Carr,2004). Further, because women perform mosthousehold labor, the addition of a coresiden-tial adult child may increase household labormore for women, differentially contributing towomen’s well-being.

Adult Children and Unique Stressors

Whereas research prior to the 2000s largelyemphasized the positive effects of adult childrenon parents, more recent research emphasizescontexts in which adult children adversely affectparental well-being. Milkie et al. (2008) consid-ered two stress processes through which adultchildren adversely affect parents’ mental healthin later life (age 65 and older): children’s nega-tive treatment of parents and effects of children’sown stressful life events on parents. Milkie andcolleagues hypothesized that ‘‘being an olderparent is not an equivalent experience acrossdifferent social locations’’ (p. 102); rather, theparenting role may be more salient to groups whohave less power in other domains. They foundgeneral support for their hypotheses: Negativetreatment of parents by children was associatedwith more depression and anger in parents, buteffects on depression were limited to Blacks,and effects on anger were limited to women.Negative events in adult children’s lives (e.g.,unemployment) also affected Blacks more thanWhites.

Other studies have considered that adult chil-dren may develop or continue to experiencea range of developmental, behavioral, men-tal health, or physical health problems thatare stressful for aging parents. Among 64- to65-year-old participants in the Wisconsin Longi-tudinal Study in 2004, roughly 3% reported thatthey had a child with a mental illness includingsevere depression and about 2.4% report havinga child with a developmental disability. Green-field and Marks (2006) found that 8% of adultchild respondents reported alcohol or substance


abuse problems and 38% reported financialproblems in a national sample. Greenfield andMarks’s cross-sectional analysis revealed thatadult children’s problems (e.g., alcohol, emo-tional, at school or work, legal) were associatedwith lower levels of psychological well-being(across several measures of well-being) and thatthese effects were magnified for unmarried par-ents (although they found no gender differencesin effects).

Recent work emphasized the life course viewof linked lives and the cumulative effect ofparenting experiences on well-being. Ha et al.(2008) considered how having children withdevelopmental or mental health problems affectsparental well-being at different stages of thelife course. Although they found that parentsof impaired children exhibited higher levels ofnegative affect, more somatic symptoms, andlower psychological well-being than parents ofunimpaired children, their results also suggestedsupport for an adaptation model in that adverseeffects attenuated with age. These results arelimited by a cross-sectional design, but thisstudy suggests specific ways that parenting stressmay shape parent well-being throughout the lifecourse. K. M. Green, Ensminger, Robertson, andJuon (2006) also addressed life course effects ofchildren’s problems. They analyzed longitudi-nal data spanning more than 30 years to showthat more recent incarceration of adult sons wasassociated with greater psychological distress forolder African American mothers—also suggest-ing that effects may attenuate with time. Thiseffect was further mediated by parents’ socialcontext as shaped by financial strain and a greaterburden of grandparenting. Although it is rare forchildren to precede their parents in death, thisloss has a lasting impact on parents, regardlessof its timing in the life course. Rogers, Floyd,Seltzer, Greenberg, and Hong’s (2008) cross-sectional analysis showed that the death of achild from infancy through age 34 (average age,18) was associated with lower levels of parents’psychological and physical well-being manyyears beyond the loss. Although these effectswere diminished by having additional childrenat the time of death, they were not affected bythe number of years that had passed since thedeath. Taken together, these studies show howearlier stressful experiences with children mayinfluence long-term health and well-being ofparents.

Ambivalence

An additional strand of research in the 2000s,launched by Luescher and Pillemer’s seminalwork in 1998, emphasized the importance ofstudying both the positive and negative aspectsof adult child/parent relationships as expressedin ‘‘ambivalence’’ (V. Bengtson, Giarrusso,Mabry, & Silverstein, 2002). Generally speak-ing, ambivalence refers to the contradictionsthat individuals feel in their relationships (V.Bengtson et al.). Connidis and McMullin (2002)emphasize the structural roots of ambivalenceand the tension between structural expecta-tions and demands around parenting. Suchtension may impose considerable stress forparents. To date, most research on ambiva-lence has focused on predictors of ambivalencebetween the generations (e.g., child’s failureto attain independence; Pillemer & Suitor,2002), but Fingerman, Pitzer, Lefkowitz, Birditt,and Mroczek (2008) took the next step andfound that intergenerational ambivalence wasinversely associated with parents’ psychologicalwell-being. Although these results are limitedby cross-sectional data—as psychological dis-tress may contribute to feelings of ambivalenceand vice versa—they provide a foundation forfuture research on ambivalence and well-being.Presently, we know little about the associa-tion between ambivalence and parents’ well-being and the direction of causality in thisassociation.

Caregiving in Later Life

A review of the caregiving literature is beyondthe scope of the present review (see Silverstein& Giarrusso, this volume, for a review);however, it is important to recognize thatadult children are a potential resource forimpaired parents. This is especially the case forunmarried parents who may not have access toother informal caregivers (Pinquart & Sorenson,2007). Although adult children may be animportant resource for aging parents, studieshave shown that parents are more likely to givethan to receive support from adult childrenand that parents who provide financial andinstrumental assistance to their adult childrenexhibit fewer depressive symptoms than otherparents (Byers, Levy, Allore, Bruce, & Kasl,2008; Silverstein, Conroy, Wang, Giarrussso, &Bengtson, 2002).


Summary

Recent research on parenting adult childrenclearly shows that parenthood is a role that neverends. Studies emphasize the ‘‘linked lives’’ ofparents and adult children and reveal multi-ple ways in which relationships with childrenremain an important influence on parental well-being throughout the life course. Not surpris-ingly, the quality of relationships with childrenis positively associated with parents’ mentalhealth. Moreover, the way children turn outand succeed or fail in socially desirable rolesis related to parents’ psychological outcomesand self-concepts. This conclusive demonstra-tion of parents’ and children’s interdependentlife course trajectories is an important contri-bution of this decade’s research, although weneed to move from studies based on one focalchild to research designs that consider multiplechildren in the family. Attention to parents’ rela-tionships with all their children may shed morelight on parental ambivalence, because researchconsistently shows that intergenerational rela-tionships can entail both positive and negativeconsequences for parents. Studies of this decadepoint to the importance of exploring contextsin which parent-adult child relationships arebeneficial or deleterious to parental well-being.Race, gender, marital status, living arrange-ments, and transitions and stressors in the livesof parents and children create diverse contextsin which parent-child relationships unfold, andwe cannot understand the influence of parent-hood on well-being without understanding thesecontexts.

DECADE CONTRIBUTIONS AND FUTURERESEARCH: A LIFE COURSE VIEW

Parenthood and parenting shape life experiencesand have significant effects on psychologicaland physical well-being over the life course. Thenature of these ongoing effects and the mecha-nisms (e.g., stress, support) through which theyoccur differ depending on the context of par-enting as shaped by age of children, familystructure, and sociodemographic characteristics.If we compartmentalize individual studies intoage-restricted snapshots, we fail to understandhow parenthood shapes life trajectories in mean-ingful and lasting ways, as well as how certainkey transitions and contexts may alter life trajec-tories. The life course perspective offers a way

to weave together the many strands of researchon parenthood and well-being and to see thiscumulative process in an integrated big pictureway. In this section, we use key life courseconcepts to synthesize major research themesof the past decade and to identify importantdirections for future research on parenthood andwell-being. Highly specialized suggestions forfuture research can also be found throughoutthis review and should be considered in thislife course framework. A life course approach isfruitful not only as a theoretical foundation butalso as a methodological guide for research onparenthood and health.

Change, Dynamics, and Cumulative Processes

A life course perspective takes a diachronicapproach to the study of families and views bothcontinuity and change as dynamic processes(M. Bengtson & Allen, 1993). The proliferationof longitudinal studies of parenthood in recentyears is an important development that isconsistent with the emphasis on a contextualand dynamic approach (e.g., K. M. Greenet al., 2006; Nomaguchi & Milkie, 2003; Woo& Raley, 2005). Researchers have used paneldata to examine how changes in parental well-being are shaped by the demands of parentingminor children (Avison et al., 2007; Early et al.,2002) as well as by the interactions with andcircumstances of adult children (Ha, 2008;Milkie et al., 2008). For example, psychosocialimplications of the transition to parenthood havebeen studied by following initially childlessindividuals over time to take into accountpretransition mental health and other factors(Nomaguchi & Milkie).

A growing number of studies of the parentalexperience in young adulthood, midlife, and laterlife use panel data sets, such as the National Sur-vey of Families and Households (Nomaguchi &Milkie, 2003), the Fragile Families and ChildWellbeing Study (Meadows, McLanahan, &Brooks-Gunn, 2008), and the National Lon-gitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Boothet al., 2008). Surprisingly, despite the availabil-ity of these and other longitudinal data sets,many studies continue to rely on cross-sectionaldata. Consistent with the life course emphasison change and trajectories, prospective designsand panel data should be used to address theissue of endogeneity, model change, and con-tinuity in parental well-being over time and to


uncover determinants of current well-being thatoriginate earlier in life (Booth et al.; Kluwer &Johnson, 2007).

Taking the long view enables familyresearchers to consider how certain types ofparenting stress that occur early in the lifecourse may affect long-term, in addition toshort-term, functioning of parents (Booth et al.,2008; Henretta, 2007). The life course conceptof cumulative advantage/disadvantage providesa way of thinking about and analyzing the impactof parenthood on well-being throughout adult-hood. Certainly, research emphasizes that par-enting of young children tends to be stressful andthat this stress is greater for some parents thanothers—for example, the unmarried (Evenson &Simon, 2005). Parenthood and parenting couldthen influence trajectories of increasing advan-tage or disadvantage for well-being over the lifecourse. The strains of parenting minor children(e.g., time and financial constraints) may createadditional disadvantage and increased risk fordistress among young parents (MacInnes, 2008)and this increased risk may be carried forwardto influence well-being late in the life course(Greenfield & Marks, 2006; Ha et al., 2008).

Furthermore, understanding parents’ well-being trajectories may benefit from broadeningthe range of dependent variables examined. Theimpact of parenting on psychological well-beingis an active area of research, but fewer stud-ies consider how parenthood affects physicalwell-being (e.g., overall health status and mor-tality risk), even though recent evidence pointsto the importance of further research on theseoutcomes (Denney, 2010; Grundy & Kravdal,2008; Kendig et al., 2007; Mirowsky, 2005).Scholars should clarify how parenthood influ-ences health outcomes over the life course.For example, parenthood may have strongereffects on psychological well-being early in thelife course when children impose daily stressand stronger effects on physical health later inlife when the long-term effects of parentingon health behaviors and psychological well-being begin to reveal themselves. Future workthat considers how different facets of parenting(e.g., stress, support, ambivalence) influence arange of well-being measures can reveal a morenuanced understanding of parenthood and well-being across the life course (Greenfield & Marks,2006; Nomaguchi & Milkie, 2003; Pudrovska,2009).

Linked Lives and Multiple Methods

The concept of linked lives—positing that his-torical events and individual experiences areinterrelated through the linked fates of familymembers (M. Bengtson & Allen, 1993)—hasbeen influential in research on parenthood at allstages in the family life course, although it isparticularly prominent in studies of older par-ents and their adult children. Recent researchclearly shows that parents and children affecteach other over the life course, and the eventsand transitions in the lives of one generation haverepercussions for the other generation (Earlyet al., 2002; Greenfield & Marks, 2006; Milkieet al., 2008). The theoretical emphasis on linkedlives and intertwined trajectories of parents andchildren calls for data and methods that transcendthe individual level and incorporate perspectivesand experiences of both generations. Surpris-ingly, this strong and consistent theoreticalfocus on linked lives has not yet been fullyimplemented in methodological aspects of par-enthood research. Most studies of older parentsand adult children rely on reports of either par-ents or children, but not both sides (Greenfield& Marks), even in qualitative interpretive stud-ies (Carr, 2004; Schmeeckle, 2007). Researchon the psychological implications of parentingminor children has considered the linked lives ofmothers and fathers. Recent studies of the effectsof parenthood on marital quality increasinglyincorporate couples, obtaining reports from bothmembers of the parental dyad, and use multilevelmodeling (Crouter & Booth, 2004; Kluwer &Johnson, 2007). Yet, despite advances in theoret-ical understanding of linked lives of family mem-bers, research on the effects of young children oncouples’ marital happiness or on couples balanc-ing work and family demands is often based onindividual level data as surveys typically collectinformation from one member per household.Because the lives of mothers and fathers as wellas parents and children are interdependent, futureresearch should continue substantiating the the-oretical emphasis on linked lives with familylevel data and models. Findings from recentstudies—together with the concept of linkedlives—underscore the importance of incorporat-ing perspectives of multiple family members.

Related to linked lives is the notion of inter-locking trajectories or pathways suggesting thatthe life course is characterized by ‘‘the interlockof multiple role trajectories and the intercon-nections between multiple role transitions over


time’’ (Macmillan & Copher, 2005, p. 860).This concept may be particularly important forparents of minor children for whom time andlabor-intensive demands of the parental role aretaxing, and the problem of combining parent-hood with other major social roles is acute.Recent research has advanced our understandingof the context of parenthood by paying particularattention to parents’ marital and union statuses(Avison et al., 2007; Evenson & Simon, 2005;Nomaguchi & Milkie, 2003; Woo & Raley,2005). Future research should involve moredetailed exploration of the ways that parenthoodinteracts with family, work, and other roles overthe life course to influence well-being of par-ents with minor and adult children. Increasingcomplexity of the context of family life calls forshifting the research focus from main effects ofparenthood to interactions of parenthood withother roles.

Multiple Clocks

A life course perspective incorporates three tem-poral dimensions: individual time, generationaltime, and historical time (M. Bengtson & Allen,1993; Macmillan & Copher, 2005). This viewof multiple clocks focuses on the intersectionof social and cultural contexts, cohort experi-ences, and individual biographies (M. Bengtson& Allen). From a life course perspective, it iscrucial to examine the interplay of age, cohort,and period effects on the experiences of par-enthood. For example, Koropeckyj-Cox et al.(2007) explored psychological implications ofmotherhood and childlessness among middle-aged women who came of age in the 1950s anddiscussed the extent to which cohort and periodinfluences shaped the well-being of childlesswomen and mothers in late midlife.

Demographic trends and social norms aroundparenthood change over time and the experienceand effects of parenthood change with thosetrends and norms (Hewlett, Rankin, & West,2002). An important goal for future research isto empirically examine how the link of parent-hood and well-being has changed over historicaltime. Given incredible social change over thepast several decades, we should ask if parent-hood has become more or less important towell-being over time or in different ways acrosssocial groups. Future research on parenthoodmay particularly benefit from the age-period-cohort (APC) approach that allows one to model

explicitly not only maturational developmentalchanges over the individual life course (i.e., ageeffects), but also period and cohort differences inthe consequences of parenthood for physical andmental health. More specifically, it will be usefulto consider how the effects of childlessness andparenthood on well-being have changed overhistorical time and across birth cohorts.

Heterogeneous Life Courses

A life course perspective underscores hetero-geneity in structures and processes related todevelopment. An important implication is thatdiversity is expected to increase over time withaging, both at the cohort and individual lev-els (M. Bengtson & Allen, 1993). In manystudies, however, diversity is acknowledgedtheoretically without being analyzed explicitly.Research on middle-aged and older parents hasdisproportionately focused on heterosexual mar-ried couples (Ha, 2008), White adults (Carr,2004; Pillemer & Suitor, 2002; Pudrovska,2008), and middle-class families (Pillemer &Suitor). A study based on Black and Whiteolder parents reported pronounced race differ-ences in the effects of parent-child relationshipsand adult children’s problems on parents’ men-tal health (Milkie et al., 2008). Overall, moreattention should be devoted to the nature andmeaning of parenthood and intergenerationalrelationships among racial and ethnic minorities,lower socioeconomic status (SES) groups, andparents in same-sex relationships who may faceunique challenges as well as access to uniquesocial resources.

Compared to studies of older families,research on parenting minor children and onpsychological implications of the transition toparenthood has addressed diversity to a greaterextent. A number of recent studies reflect expe-riences of young adults from disadvantagedbackgrounds (e.g., Booth et al., 2008). More-over, some studies of parenting stress in fam-ilies with young children focus specifically onunderstudied populations that may be in partic-ular need of intervention, for example, singleAfrican American mothers in poverty (Jackson,2000). Yet even research on young childrenhas mostly examined diversity along the linesof race and SES, with little attention paid tothe well-being of same-sex couples parentingminor children. An important direction for futureresearch will be a more nuanced exploration of


how different configurations of gender, race,SES, and sexuality create different experiencesof parenthood in young adulthood and later life.This will involve going beyond the assessmentof main effects and group differences in effectsto focusing on the possibility of conditioningeffects. For example, the experience of parent-hood and the impact of parenthood on well-beingmay qualitatively differ across social groups(e.g., by gender, race, SES, sexual orientation).

Agency

A life course approach emphasizes the socialcreation of meanings attached to family rolesand considers individuals as active agents ininteraction with social contexts and structures(M. Bengtson & Allen, 1993). Qualitative meth-ods provide opportunities for studying agencyand symbolic meanings by incorporating partici-pants’ voices, unique perspectives, and accountsof lived experiences of parenthood and childless-ness. Several recent qualitative studies explorethe ways in which parents and children inter-pret family relationships and roles. For example,Schmeeckle (2007) examined gendered dimen-sions of relationships in stepfamilies from thevantage point of adult stepchildren. MacInnes(2008) used in depth interviews to examine howmothers’ childbearing intentions are constructedin the context of caring for a child with disability.Overall, however, research on the implicationsof parenthood for well-being has been domi-nated by quantitative studies—whether large orsmall scale. Our knowledge of the experiencesand meanings of parenthood over the life coursewill be dramatically improved by increasing thevolume of qualitative research, especially qual-itative studies of families that provide perspec-tives of multiple family members. Moreover,mixed methods—combining statistical analysesof survey data with qualitative analyses of inter-views with the same participants (e.g., Carr,2004; MacInnes)—may provide more nuancedand contextualized advances in research on par-enting and well-being.

CONCLUSION

Social scientists have considered the effects ofparenthood on well-being from the beginningof social science (Durkheim, 1897/1951), butwe have moved far beyond a simple compar-ison of parents to nonparents. Research over

the past decade reflects demographic trends andincreasing diversity in family structures. Par-enthood provides costs and benefits for adults’well-being, and the balance of costs to benefitsreflects structural demands, resources, and ten-sions that further depend on one’s position inthe life course. Family scholars made significantadvances in the study of parenthood and well-being over the past decade. High-quality lon-gitudinal data sets, attention to theory, broaderappreciation for life course processes, growingrecognition of diversity in these processes, andthe prolific research activity of well-establishedscholars as well as a new generation of scholarshas come together to create a solid foundationfor future research on parenthood and well-being. Parenthood and parenting experienceshave significant effects on well-being over thelife course, potentially contributing to cumula-tive advantage for some and to disadvantage forothers.

Although recent studies recognize that par-enting stress is greater for some groups thanothers, we lack a solid understanding of thevarious mechanisms (e.g., financial, relationshipquality, access to child care and social supports)through which parenting affects well-being. Thestrains of parenting are not distributed equally—with women, unmarried parents, and lower SESindividuals shouldering more strain and its con-sequences. Recent work calls attention to theburden of parenting in American society andthe absence of public support for parents andchildren (Hewlett et al., 2002). Research on par-enting stress and well-being provides impetus forpublic policies that address these issues. Futureresearch should continue to focus on diversityin family forms and implications for well-beingover the life course of parents and their children.

NOTE

Research for this article was supported in part by a grantfrom the National Institute on Aging (RO1AGO26613, PI:Debra Umberson).

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parenthood, childlessness, and well-being: a life course perspective

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