Married mothers are happiest group in America

Married people with children are among the happiest group in America, according to new data in the General Social Survey.

Both men and women are significantly happier being married, the study found, which increases when they have children.

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“In particular, and contrary to the views articulated by many on social media, the mainstream media, and the American public, marriage and parenthood do not appear to be obstacles to living a happy life,” University of Virginia sociologist W. Bradford Wilcox and Institute for Family Studies research director Wendy Wang wrote. “Instead, these two traditional markers of adulthood are associated with a happier life.”

Women report the highest levels of happiness when married with children, with 40% saying they are “very happy.” That is compared to a sharp drop to 25% for married, childless women, 22% for unmarried, childless women, and 17% for unmarried women with children.

Men show a similar trend, with 35% of married fathers reporting being “very happy.” The happiness dividend drops less for childless married men than women, 30% of whom report being happy. However, happiness plummets for unmarried childless men, clocking in at 14% and unmarried fathers at 12%.

Separate research from the University of Chicago in July confirms this happiness trend, noting that “the most important differentiator” for happiness among American men and women is marriage.

Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office recently published a report outlining problems faced by American men, noting that “the sexual revolution assaulted the family from another angle, arguing that men and women alike should be freed from the restraints of marriage, monogamy, and children.”

“Cosmopolitan liberals who heaped the most scorn on ‘bourgeois’ concepts of marriage, family, and fidelity largely retained traditional family patterns, although they began to marry later and have fewer children,” Rubio wrote in a Thursday op-ed, noting that about 40% of births occur out of wedlock.

His office’s report notes that American men are also struggling to find and maintain jobs, succeed in education, and start families, alongside record rates of depression, addiction, and suicide. For Rubio, however, “marriage and family are the answer.”

While acknowledging that they are not a “panacea,” the Florida Republican said, “If we do not give men the opportunity to work, marry, and succeed, we can expect further stagnation in their fortunes and further alienation between the sexes.”

Marriage rates dipped during the coronavirus pandemic, but the most recent report from the American Community Survey shows marriage rates rebounded back to pre-pandemic levels in 2022, with divorce rates at near-record lows.

However, fertility rates were also at near-record lows, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, unchanging from 2021’s 1.7 children per woman. To maintain a replacement rate, the birth rate among women would be at least 2.1 children.

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Rubio called for public policy changes that incentivize marriage and family, including making it easier to sustain a family on a single income.

“There is no reason why the government should incentivize fathers and mothers to both work full-time, especially since the more traditional ‘breadwinner’ model remains the preference of the working class,” he said. “Congress should enact reforms to place single-earner households on a similar financial footing as dual-earner households.”