Maybe Those Trad-Wives Are on to Something?
A Husband And Kids Doubles Women's Likelihood Of Being Happy
A Husband And Kids Doubles Women's Likelihood Of Being Happy
It has been a long feminist trope that marriage and motherhood are garbage chutes to misery for women. Feminist sociologist Jesse Bernard warned in her 1972 book, The Future of Marriage, “[M]arriage introduced such profound discontinuities into the lives of women as to constitute genuine emotional health hazards.” Lyz Lenz, in her 2024 New York Times bestseller This American Ex-Wife: How I Ended My Marriage and Started My Life, holds the same hellish view of matrimony. Early in, she explains, “Marriage, it seemed, was this: the eternal return of trash on my floor.”
It is no wonder that only 32 percent of women believe marriage and motherhood lead to fuller, happier lives for them. And 47 percent of single young women believe singleness is a more direct route to happiness for women than being wed. According to recent Pew findings, fewer young women than men say they want to have children one day.
But what are the facts? Are marriage and motherhood really tickets to increased misery? The good news is that strong data tell us the opposite is true.
The General Social Survey, the academic gold standard in social science measurements, tells us that among women age 18 to 55 in the United States, 40 percent of those who are married and have children report being “very happy.” Only 25 percent of married childless women report…
Keep em barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen.
I have no idea why women don’t want to have a family? That’s crazy. When I was young I knew I wanted to be married and have a family. I married straight from HS and had my third son at 22. Best decisions I could have ever made. I love being a mother. It’s the best part of my life.