Have Parents of Large Family Higher Life Satisfaction? Policies, Resources, and Values of Large Families in Europe

Mare Ainsaar , University of Tartu

This study analyses the impact of resources, values, and family policy on the well-being of parents of large families with children. We use European Social Survey (ESS) data from 23 countries and information taken from the OECD and Eurostat databases to describe family policies. The countries are divided into five groups based on their support for large families and general family policy. On average, there were no statistical differences between the life satisfaction of families with four or three children and that of other families. However, the results show differences in components of life satisfaction of fathers and mothers of large families. The life satisfaction of men with four children was primarily shaped by differences in income and working status. Income and work status did not differentiate the well-being of mothers with four or more children from that of other women. Family policy did not have a direct impact on large family well-being, but may function as an indirect factor of life satisfaction via economic coping impact.

See paper

 Presented in Session P1. Fertility, Family, Life Course