Women with two children are a bit less happy than their childless peers, with a 4-percentage-point gap (p < . 10). There are no appreciable differences in happiness for women with three or more kids; their levels of happiness are statistically indistinguishable from those of childless women.
Child number two or three doesn't make a parent happier. And, for mothers, he found, more children appear to make them less happy—although they are happier than childless women. For dads, additional children had no effect on their well-being in his study.
Researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Canada's Western University did just that. And they found that two kids are the ticket to happiness. When it comes to a third child, the increase in happiness surrounding the birth is negligible.
According to a Gallup poll, 4 in 10 Americans say three or more children is the ideal family size.
As it turns out, having three kids makes moms the most stressed of any combination of kids, according to a TODAY Parents survey. Mothers of three (naturally) reported more stress than parents of one or two kids ... but moms with four or more little ones actually reported lower stress levels.
Grow your family to at least four children! According to a study out of Australia's Edith Cowan University, parents with the most life satisfaction (which means those who are the happiest) are those that have four or more children.
Pros of having a third baby
You'll still be able to go out easily as a family of five. Your kids will have more than one sibling. Having three kids may be an easier transition than you think.
Three or more children = wrong
Despite the growing trends mentioned above, two children still seems to the ideal number. An actual study revealed one to two children is the ideal number for “happiness”, but with two you don't have to deal with the aforementioned only child issues.
According to a survey conducted by British parenting website Bounty, two girls are considered the best combination for parents to have a happy and harmonious family life. In their study, they surveyed 2,116 parents who had children aged 16 and under.
"The survey finds that the majority of respondents believe that two children is the 'ideal' number for family happiness, but the majority of respondents also have two children.
A TODAYMoms.com survey of more that 7,000 mothers found that the least stressful number of kids is four, while the most stressful number is three.
In fact, mothers who have three children are the most stressed out - even more so than those who have four, according to a. The study found that while transitioning from two to three children is overwhelming for parents because it means they are outnumbered, mothers tend to 'let go' once they reach four children.
Third born children are usually the charmers in the family. They become the class clown and are usually good manipulators. They are also affectionate and uncomplicated. Underneath all of that charm they can be rebellious, critical, temperamental, spoiled and slightly impatient.
Happiness for people with siblings doesn't stop with the day-to-day. People with more siblings are more likely to report happiness in the workplace. It's a difference of 8 percentage points of workplace happiness from only children to people with four or more siblings.
Some 19% have three children, and 8% have four or more. While the association of education and family size remains a strong one, in fact the educational “gap” in fertility has narrowed in the past two decades, driven in part by increases in family size among the highly educated.
Based on the study findings, they suggest the optimal time between giving birth and getting pregnant again is 18 months, with a range of 12 to 24 months. That said, many experts still adhere to the recommendation of 18 to 24 months.
Forget the terrible twos and prepare for the hateful eights ‒ parents have named age 8 as the most difficult age to parent, according to new research. Eight being the troublesome year likely comes as a surprise to many parents, especially since parents polled found age 6 to be easier than they expected.
According to the model, women should start trying to conceive by age 32 to have at least a 90 percent chance of having one child. For the same odds of having two children, they should start trying by age 27; for three kids, they should start by age 23.
Having two daughters leads to the most harmonious family life, according to a study by the popular U.K. parenting website Bounty.com.
"The survey finds that the majority of respondents believe that two children is the 'ideal' number for family happiness, but the majority of respondents also have two children.
According to a 2013 "TODAY Parents" survey of more than 7,000 parents, three is the most stressful number of children to have.
Third babies seem easier than your first or second.
You're also a little more laid-back by the time you have a third. You're not a newbie like you are with a first child, and you're not trying to learn how to juggle multiple children like you are with a second.
Having three children creates such a sense of familial joy that the extra work (mostly) feels worth it: You get three times the love – From the time they are born, your kids love you. Passionately and demonstrably. With three kids, you get that three times over.
You've already got the toddler-wrangling skills
With your second, you may have the baby hacks down, but now you realize you have no clue how to actually do all those baby things while simultaneously entertaining a toddler or paying attention to an older child. It's a whole new learning curve.
Because of that long connection, she adds, siblings matter a lot for our personal growth and well-being. “Throughout the lifespan, people who have close sibling relationships have better mental health, better psychological health, and better social relationships, generally speaking.”