New Study Says That Dads Are Happier Parents Than Mums

As much as we’d love to believe that parenting is now an equal endeavour that men and women undertake with parity, a recent study suggests that mums are still bearing the brunt of the mental parenting load. 

The research concludes that fathers are simply happier parents than mothers. A team of researchers analysed more than 18,000 people to figure out whether mums or dads experience greater happiness and well-being from being a parent.

The Results

The study found that both mums and dads were happiest when they were with their kids compared to doing any other activity, but dads, as a general rule, were found to be way happier than mums. “But why?!” we hear you cry! 

Well, one of the authors of the study, Katherine Nelson-Coffey contends that ”Fathers may fare better than mothers in part due to how they spend their time with their children.”

The Dad Advantage

Image: whatisepigenetics.com

Despite taking huge steps forward in recent years with regards to the equality of parenting, studies like these make it all-too-clear how far there is still to go. 

It remains that, because women are still considered by society to be the primary caregivers, mums will spend a whole lot more of their day performing day-to-day childcare tasks; like washing, dressing, feeding and bathing the kids. This leaves room for dads to play, have fun and generally get more joy from their role as a parent. No wonder they feel happier!

Moving Forward

Ultimately, the hard stuff needs to be shared more evenly between mums and dads, which will free up more time for mum to have her fair share of playtime, too.

As Motherly so perfectly puts it: “what we need is for society at large to recognise that dads are equal parents who can and should shoulder an equal share of our mental load. We need our communities to buy into this, our workplaces to buy into this and our partners to buy into this so that dads feel supported and confident in being full parents, not just playmates.”

Amen to that! 

Hero Image: Working Mother

More Parenting News Here:

Study Finds That Being A Full-Time Working Mum Is Seriously Stressful
Turns Out There’s A 'Good Age' For Parents To Get Divorced
This Is The Ideal Bedtime For Parents’ Mental Health

Have you signed up to our newsletter? Join ellaslist to get the best family and kid-friendly events, venues, classes and things to do NEAR YOU!