Fathers are happier and less stressed than mothers, study finds

While acknowledging that fathers today are more involved in their child's life, the study showed how parenting is still largely gendered.

Fathers are usually happier and less stressed as compared to mothers when it comes to childcare, says research.

Published in the Journal of Family issues, the study based its results on how childcare activities are split between parents. It not only measured the amount of time mothers and fathers spent with their kids but also compared the type of childcare activity, when and where it took place, and how much care it involved.

While acknowledging that fathers today are more involved in their child’s life, the study showed how parenting is still largely gendered.

“A family trip to the playground is going to affect someone differently than changing diapers in the middle of the night, for example. In our study, we tried to capture those variations and see if they’re related to the differences we see between mothers’ and fathers’ moods,” Cadhla McDonnell, doctoral candidate in sociology and demography at Penn State, was quoted as saying.

In case of fathers, researchers found that their childcare activities were more likely to be recreational and take place on weekends. Mothers’ activities, on the other hand, were more about involving the infant and could fit into the category of ‘solo parenting’, in the absence of the partner.

Taking the context of childcare activities into account fully explained differences in the mother and father’s happiness and partially explained differences in stress, as per the study. It suggested that moms are usually doing more childcare activities that produce more stress and less happiness.

“Traditionally caregiving has been seen as more central to women’s identities than it is to men’s. But that’s not the case — mothers and fathers both found caring for children highly meaningful and there is no difference by gender,” McDonnell added.

“Our findings show that some aspects of parenting are more enjoyable than others and that the way childcare is distributed between mothers and fathers right now brings more emotional rewards for dads than for moms,” he added.

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