A Systematic Review of Life Satisfaction Experiences Among Childfree Adults

There has been a marked increase in the number of childfree individuals over time (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019). Prior studies have identified several benefits among those who are childfree, such as a sense of freedom, more financial stability, and better partnerships (Peterson, 2015; *Callan, 1987; *Rempel, 1985). Meanwhile, other studies have identified possible consequences to being without children, such as stigma (e.g., being labeled as selfish), feelings of inadequacy, lower life satisfaction levels at midlife and overall, and higher rates of depression (Bell, 2013; Chou & Chi, 2004; Lampman & Dowling-Guyer, 1995; Peterson, 2015; *Tanaka & Johnson, 2014).

Considering the need to better understand the childfree life, there is relatively little research that has examined the life satisfaction of those who choose or circumstantially end up without children. Life satisfaction may be particularly important to those who are childfree, as there has been some support to demonstrate the social pressure to parent as well as the positive effects of raising children (Chou & Chi, 2004; Huijts et al., 2013). In addition, life satisfaction is also a concept that can transform by changing either one's perceptions or circumstances (Albert et al., 2010). Thus, understanding this variable among childfree individuals could provide insight into relevant supports or points of intervention for those who report lower levels of life satisfaction. This review explored available research on the life satisfaction of childfree adults to synthesize prior research and identify potential gaps and future directions for research and practice.

Experiences of Childfree Individuals

Despite a growing focus on childfree adults, there is a particular need to examine this population from a strengths-focused lens. Stigma toward childfree adults has been noted across decades of prior literature, particularly when examining the shift from more deficit-oriented language like childless to more strengths-oriented and/or open-ended language like childfree (Blackstone & Stewart, 2012). Prior research has indicated that parenthood is frequently perceived as a moral imperative, and childfree adults are perceived as being less psychologically fulfilled (Ashburn-nardo, 2017). Watling Neal and Neal (2021) noted that persons with children or who wanted children held less positive feelings toward childfree individuals. Among a sample of mostly traditional-aged college students, childfree women were perceived as more emotionally troubled and less warm compared to women who were parents, when asked to respond with their perceptions to different scenarios related to childrearing and relationships (Koropeckyj-Cox et al., 2018). In a similar study, college students perceived childfree women to be less caring, less driven, and less emotionally healthy to their mother counterparts (Lampman & Dowling-Guyer, 1995). The existence of these biases and the focus on being parents may also be attributed to culture (Chou & Chi, 2004; Shenkman et al., 2021). Given the recency of this deficit-oriented narrative, continued negative perceptions toward childfree individuals, and limited research examining diverse samples of childfree adults, further study is needed to better understand the experiences, needs, and uniqueness of childfree individuals.

Rationale for Further Examination of Life Satisfaction in the Childfree

Life satisfaction has been defined as “a cognitive evaluation of well-being that is based upon comparisons of actual achievements to aspired conditions” (*Hansen, 2012, p. 30) and is a unique concept differing from “well-being,” “happiness,” and “quality of life” (*Bień et al., 2017). Across the lifespan, people experience various degrees of well-being and happiness; however, life satisfaction is one, broad concept depicting how one perceives one's own life, as a comparison of life expectations versus actual characteristics.

Although life satisfaction has not been comprehensively examined across a broad array of life domains or experiences, there has been significant research on the association between life satisfaction and being in a committed or long-term partnership (*Dykstra & Wagner, 2007; Gibney et al., 2017; Stahnke & Cooley, 2020). Among this body of research, childrearing status was not consistently discussed as a correlate of life satisfaction, but parenting status was noted in a few studies, as partnership is ostensibly related to potential decisions around childrearing. Researchers have indicated differences in life cycle and family experiences among couples who are voluntarily childfree compared to parents, calling for unique approaches or interventions when working with this population (Pelton & Hertlein, 2011). On the other hand, prior research has indicated that there seem to be few differences in personality characteristics or life satisfaction when comparing childfree adults to those with children (Watling Neal & Neal, 2021). A qualitative study of childfree older adult women indicated that nearly all participants reported a strong sense of life satisfaction, but they also indicated the need for and development of resiliency and experiences of feeling stigmatized for their childfree status (*Stahnke et al., 2020).

Purpose

The overarching purpose of this review was to systematically examine prior research related to life satisfaction and childlessness to better understand the context and life satisfaction of childfree individuals compared to those who are parents. The secondary purpose was to determine what evidence exists to understand whether remaining childfree is associated with poorer life satisfaction, as research has indicated both advantages and disadvantages to not having children. The specific aims of this systematic review were to examine (a) study characteristics, (b) methodological characteristics, and (c) primary findings of research that incorporated a measure of life satisfaction and being childfree. In the Discussion, the authors identify the strengths and areas for further exploration as well as the gaps in understanding life satisfaction among the childfree.

Methods

Search Strategies and Procedure

To attain a sample, the researcher conducted an electronic search of published, peer-reviewed articles from the following databases: (1) PubMed (8 articles), (2) Social Science Premium (2 articles), (3) SearchWise (60 articles), (4) PsychINFO (30 articles), (5) Google Scholar (42 results), and (6) SagePub (14 articles). A Boolean search of terms: childless* (alternative endings included) and happiness/satisfaction/quality of life was conducted, while applying related words and equivalent subjects. Parameters included: 1979-present, peer-reviewed academic journal articles, and articles written in English. Reference lists from prior reviews and articles were also examined for additional studies.

Some studies focused on voluntary versus involuntary childfree statuses while others looked at quality of life related specifically to infertility; most of these were eliminated due to not being directly related to childfree life satisfaction. Initially, across six databases, 156 results were returned. After eliminating non-relevant and duplicate articles that did not fit in the above criteria, and with no additional relevant studies located from Google Scholar or Social Science Premium, 15 articles were attained from literature review. See Figure 1.

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

Given the limited attention to life satisfaction and childfree adults, the goal of this review was to examine a wide range of potential research to understand the current knowledge and level of development of research in this area. Thus, this review looked at the last 40 years of research. Studies must have been: (a) written in the English language and (b) peer reviewed to be included in the search findings. Articles that were written in foreign languages and examined concepts similar but different from life satisfaction - after looking deeper at the article - were excluded. However, one dissertation was included as it pertains directly to the subject matter (*Rubin-Terrado, 1994). In addition, any article that included the variables “life satisfaction” and “childlessness” were included in this study, even if the purpose of the article may have been to examine other relationships or variables. Qualitative and quantitative studies were included in the search.

Coding Procedures

The 15 studies identified in this review were coded for multiple features including characteristics of the study, participants, design, and primary findings (Cooper, 2010). The first author reviewed studies prior to the development of this manuscript to refine the final purpose and search term. Then, the first author consulted with the second author to create the codebook and coding approach. The third author provided recommendations regarding the structure and content of the manuscript given her content expertise on childfree adults.

The coding procedure was piloted using three studies randomly selected from the total sample, then revised to eliminate unused coding criteria and expand criteria items. This revised codebook was used with remaining studies, and after the second and last round of coding, researchers met and discussed the final codes to ensure that all codes were represented. All relevant outcomes were coded for each study. The first author of this study served as an independent coder for each stage of coding while the second author was brought in to consult on intended codes and to verify codes once they were documented in the tables.

Results

Fifteen articles were included in the final synthesis, 13 of which were quantitative. Included studies are marked with an * in the References list.

Study Characteristics

Purpose

All the studies sought to examine the relationship between having or not having children and life satisfaction while the variables used, characteristics studied, and methodology differed. Overall, most studies looked at the direct relationship between life satisfaction and not having children (*Bień et al., 2017; *Dykstra & Wagner, 2007; *Hansen et al., 2009; *Keizer et al., 2009; *Rempel, 1985; *Rubin-Terrado, 1994; *Stahnke et al., 2020; *Tanaka & Johnson, 2014; *Zhang & Liu, 2007), having children (*Hansen, 2012; *Kramer & Rodgers, 2020; *Stanca, 2012), or a comparison of those with versus without children (*Callan, 1987; *Keith, 1983; *Majid et al., 2015). Some articles included other life outcomes or variables as well. For example, one study looked at what factors specifically affect the life satisfaction of childfree women (*Bień et al., 2017) while another compared the life satisfaction in terms of marital satisfaction of parents and non-parents (*Callan, 1987).

Sample Characteristics

Among the studies, sample sizes differed greatly, with the largest sample size of 33,021 total participants (*Tanaka & Johnson, 2014) to 14 (*Stahnke et al., 2020) and 58 participants (*Rubin-Terrado, 1994) in the two qualitative studies. Regarding gender, 11 articles included both men and women (*Dykstra & Wagner, 2007; *Hansen, 2012; *Hansen et al., 2009; *Keith, 1983; *Kramer & Rodgers, 2020; *Majid et al., 2015; *Rempel, 1985; *Stanca, 2012; *Tanaka & Johnson, 2014; *Zhang & Liu, 2007), four included only women (*Bień et al., 2017; *Callan, 1987; *Rubin-Terrado, 1994; *Stahnke et al., 2020), and one included only men (*Keizer et al., 2009). No articles indicated the inclusion of homosexual or transgender individuals or couples. Studies showed some variation as to age range. Nine studies included participants of all adult ages (*Bień et al., 2017; *Callan, 1987; *Dykstra & Wagner, 2007; *Hansen, 2012; *Hansen et al., 2009; *Majid et al., 2015; *Stanca, 2012; *Tanaka & Johnson, 2014; *Kramer & Rodgers, 2020). Five studies focused on older adults (ages 70 + in *Dykstra & Wagner, 2007; pp. 72–96 in *Keith, 1983; “elderly” in *Rempel, 1985; p. 65 + in *Stahnke et al., 2020; “elderly” in *Rubin-Terrado, 1994). Lastly, *Keizer et al. (2009) included middle-aged adults 40–59.

Studies were diverse in location as most studies included participants from countries outside of the United States. The sample locations included: Poland (*Bień et al., 2017); Australia (*Callan, 1987); Amsterdam (*Dykstra & Wagner, 2007); Norway (*Hansen et al., 2009); the United States (*Keith, 1983; *Stahnke et al., 2020; *Rubin-Terrado, 1994); Netherlands (*Keizer et al., 2009); Pakistan (*Majid et al., 2015); Canada (*Rempel, 1985); China (*Zhang & Liu, 2007); Germany (*Kramer & Rodgers, 2020); or multi-country samples (*Hansen, 2012; *Stanca, 2012; *Tanaka & Johnson, 2014). Besides age, gender, and ethnicity, the most common demographic variables reported in the studies were marital status and educational attainment. Most studies reported on samples who were largely married and who completed a moderate level of educational attainment across participants (particularly had some college/Bachelors). *Bień et al. (2017) also specified that participants were primarily from more urban areas, while *Rubin-Terrado (1994) reported specifically on nursing home residents. Despite the range of countries represented in this review, no studies specified race, and one study reported on participants’ religion (*Keith, 1983). One large scale study further reported information on participants by individual countries (*Tanaka & Johnson, 2014), while one Chinese study did not report on any further demographic characteristics (*Zhang & Liu, 2007).

Methodological Characteristics

Design and Data Sources

The majority (n = 13) of studies were quantitative, one was solely qualitative (*Stahnke et al., 2020), and one study included a mixed methods analysis (*Rubin-Terrado, 1994). Of the quantitative work, only one study included a longitudinal design and quasi-experimental data (*Kramer & Rodgers, 2020) while the rest were cross-sectional and non-experimental. Seven studies utilized primary data collection procedures by interviewing participants and/or surveying participants (*Bień et al., 2017; *Callan, 1987; *Dykstra & Wagner, 2007; *Keith, 1983; *Majid et al., 2015; *Rubin-Terrado, 1994; *Stahnke et al., 2020), one conducted a literature review (*Hansen, 2012), and the remaining seven used secondary data (*Hansen et al., 2009; *Keizer et al., 2009; *Kramer & Rodgers, 2020; *Rempel, 1985; *Stanca, 2012; *Tanaka & Johnson, 2014; *Zhang & Liu, 2007). Some studies extracted secondary data from existing data sets: (a) the German Socioeconomic Panel (SOEP; *Kramer & Rodgers, 2020); (b) the Norwegian Life Course, Ageing and Generation data set (NorLAG; *Hansen et al., 2009); (c) the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (*Keizer et al., 2009); (d) the 1979 Social Change in Canada data (*Rempel, 1985); (e) the World Values Survey (*Stanca, 2012; *Tanaka & Johnson, 2014); and (f) the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (*Zhang & Liu, 2007).

Measures of Life Satisfaction

This review identified that a variety of measures have been used to assess life satisfaction. About half of the studies (n = 7) used secondary data from a large-scale survey to assess life satisfaction in unspecified ways. Three studies (*Bień et al., 2017; *Majid et al., 2015; *Hansen, 2012) utilized a five-item, five-point Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985), one (*Rubin-Terrado, 1994) used the Philadelphia Geriatric Morale Scale (Lawton, 1975), and another (*Keith, 1983) used a ten-item scale (Wood et al., 1969). The *Callan (1987) study used a variety of questions on life satisfaction or well-being: the Bradburn Scale, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, and life quality questions from the Andrews and Withey's 1976 study, such as: “All things considered, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your life as a whole?.” *Stahnke et al. (2020) used open-ended interview questions to assess life satisfaction in participants, including such questions as: how would you say your childfree status informed your life satisfaction? Lastly, one study constituted a literature review (*Hansen, 2012).

Data Analysis

A variety of statistical techniques were used, with only one study not specifying types of analyses (*Bień et al., 2017). *Majid et al. (2015) used independent t-tests to assess the differences in life satisfaction of parents compared to non-parents. *Kramer and Rodgers (2020) used an interrupted time series with a nonequivalent no-treatment control group to examine changes in satisfaction pre-parenthood and post-birth compared to the control group by collecting data at similar points in time for those who were childless. The *Callan (1987) study utilized multivariate analyses of variance to look at the association between different demographic characteristics and life satisfaction, while the *Keith (1983) study and *Rempel (1985) used ANOVA to determine differences in life satisfaction when comparing parenthood status and demographic variables.

Two studies used ordinary least squares regression to see the effect of being with or without children had on life outcomes such as life satisfaction and self-esteem (*Hansen et al., 2009) or the effects of life satisfaction, including financial satisfaction on parenthood (*Stanca, 2012). *Zhang and Liu (2007) used ordered-logit regression to compare various levels of well-being, including life satisfaction between parents and the childless. *Tanaka and Johnson (2014) used logistic regression to examine whether living in a pronatalist country was associated with life satisfaction and happiness (yes/no), controlling for age and fertility rate. *Dykstra and Wagner (2007) used stepwise multiple regression to examine the effects of parenthood, marital, and occupational history on life satisfaction – with separate analyses run for groups of men and women, and controlling for age. Hierarchical regression is used to assess the life satisfaction of men who are parents compared those who are childless (*Keizer et al., 2009).

The mixed methods study by *Rubin-Terrado (1994) used frequency distributions to compare mothers and non-mothers’ on various indicators including life satisfaction and descriptive statistics to summarize life satisfaction scores. The qualitative portion of their study used thematic analysis to examine interview responses and determine experiences of life satisfaction. *Stahnke et al. (2020) utilized phenomenological data analysis to examine life satisfaction of older adult, childfree women.

Primary Findings

Early Studies on Life Satisfaction

Four of the articles included in this review were conducted in the 1980s (*Callan, 1987; *Keith, 1983; *Rempel, 1985) and 1990s (*Rubin-Terrado, 1994). Overall, all four studies provide early support that childfree individuals did not significantly differ from parents in life satisfaction though those with children did receive more visitors (*Keith, 1983). Further, *Callan (1987) identified that voluntarily childfree women were actually slightly more satisfied than women with children in the life satisfaction domains of independence and freedom, friendship and love in life, and marriage though they received less visitors than parents; further, older childfree adults reported more financial security and better health than parents (*Rempel, 1985). Only those who dubbed themselves infertile reported lower well-being and life as being emptier (*Callan, 1987).

Societal Expectation of Motherhood and Life Satisfaction

*Tanaka and Johnson (2014) used the World Values Survey to compare childless adults to parents, finding that childfree women in pronatalist societies that encourage and value reproduction report less life satisfaction than parents. These results were not replicated in non-pronatalist societies. Author et al.'s 2020 study interviewed 14 childfree older women to assess their perception of their life satisfaction, finding a theme that the participants had felt pressure as well as stigma and isolation from other people, particularly mothers, due to their childfree status.

International Findings

In Chinese culture, being childfree is often seen as shameful; however, being childfree in late life was not associated with anxiety and loneliness and only marginally significant (p < .10) to life satisfaction when compared to those with children (*Zhang & Liu, 2007). Among adults from Amsterdam and Berlin, *Dykstra and Wagner (2007) identified an association between parenthood and greater life satisfaction in Dutch and German participants; however, parenthood is relevant to Dutch men's life satisfaction only as long as it is linked to marriage. *Keizer et al. (2009) also looked at 1,451 Dutch men aged 40–59 and found that the association between being childfree and multiple domains of life satisfaction was weaker than the authors expected. In addition, childfree men had higher life satisfaction levels compared to fathers who had children at home (when controlling for demographic variables such as being in a partnership or not). Overall, the majority of international findings demonstrate a positive association between being childfree and life satisfaction (*Bień et al., 2017; *Callan, 1987; *Hansen, 2012; *Hansen et al., 2009; *Stanca, 2012).

Life Satisfaction of the Childfree

In a literature review of childlessness folk theories compared to the realities of childlessness, *Hansen (2012) examined the relationship between life satisfaction, happiness, and parenthood. Results indicated that, across multiple studies, parenthood had a small but significant negative impact on both happiness and life satisfaction, except for women in non-Western countries. Further, *Stanca (2012) reviewed data from 94 different countries and found that parenthood was associated with lower well-being, specifically that the more children participants reported, the more negative reports of financial satisfaction. However, parenthood was positively associated with other indicators of life satisfaction in this sample. Overall, the reviews support that parenthood can have minor to moderate negative effects on life satisfaction and happiness across multiple geographic locations and cultures (*Stanca, 2012; *Hansen, 2012).

Discussion

Despite a range of cultural groups and inclusion of different predictors, controls, and moderating variables, the positive association between being childfree and higher life satisfaction appears in most studies, though some show insignificant life satisfaction differences between parents and non-parents (*Callan, 1987; *Keith, 1983). However, there are also some important considerations and gaps to be discussed.

Study Characteristics

A review of the literature revealed that four of the 15 childfree studies examined were from the 1980s and 1990s (*Callan, 1987; *Keith, 1983; *Rempel, 1985; *Rubin-Terrado, 1994) and only one looked at childfree older Americans within the last decade (*Stahnke et al., 2020). Each study analyzed this relationship in different ways, such as examining different predictors or correlates of life satisfaction or examining the change of life satisfaction before and after having children (*Kramer & Rodgers, 2020). Although research on childlessness and life satisfaction is periodic and infrequent, other studies do exist that study differing concepts associated with childless life satisfaction, such as happiness or well-being, that are not included in this review (Albert et al., 2010; Peterson, 2015). Additionally, there was relative consistency among the purposes of the 15 studies in examining what aspects of life satisfaction are affected by parenthood status (*Hansen, 2012; *Stanca, 2012). Looking at studies examining both parenthood and childfree status strengthens the somewhat pervasive finding that life satisfaction is negatively associated with having children.

Many of the studies were large-scale examinations of survey data and excluded detailed examination of demographic characteristics (*Dykstra & Wagner, 2007; *Kramer & Rodgers, 2020; *Rempel, 1985; *Stanca, 2012; *Tanaka & Johnson, 2014; *Zhang & Liu, 2007). However, there is diversity in that the 15 studies gathered data from different countries on four different continents (North America, Asia, Europe, and Australia) as well as world survey data (*Stanca, 2012; *Tanaka & Johnson, 2014). One study included only men (*Keizer et al., 2009), three included only women (*Bień et al., 2017; *Callan, 1987; *Rubin-Terrado, 1994), and the remaining eleven studies included both men and women. While most studies did not specify certain demographic characteristics such as sexuality or race, disallowing authors to comment further on the diversity of participants, multiple elements of diversity (country, gender, age) were represented in the included studies. Therefore, despite these gaps, it seems the association between life satisfaction and being childfree crosses several cultural and continental lines.

Methodological Characteristics

Most included articles were quantitative and incorporated survey data, and all but one were cross-sectional (*Kramer & Rodgers, 2020). Further, two studies assessed life satisfaction through qualitative interviews (*Rubin-Terrado, 1994; *Stahnke et al., 2020). *Rubin-Terrado (1994) included both qualitative interviews and quantitative statistical analyses. No study utilized an experimental design, as parenthood and life satisfaction are not variables that can be ethically manipulated. Thus, there is little causal support for the association between being childfree and higher life satisfaction, or equal life satisfaction of parents and the childfree, but there is growing support in general. Secondary data, which was used in seven of the studies, leaves some limitations as well. For example, reusing data intended for a different purpose (not for the examination of life satisfaction and partnership) may not be ideal for looking at the potential complexity of the variable of life satisfaction, depending on how it is assessed (Rubin, 2016).

Studies mostly used validated measures of life satisfaction, while two used interviews (*Rubin-Terrado, 1994; *Stahnke et al., 2020) and another constituted a review of other literature (*Hansen, 2012). Two studies (*Hansen, 2012; *Keith, 1983) varied in conceptual clarity by using “happiness” and “well-being” interchangeably with “life satisfaction” without clear measurement of either; these are different concepts that could impact results. A final strength of many of the measures is that they were culturally appropriate, as researchers used instruments normed with the specific sample or translated for the participants. While most included studies utilized cross-sectional methods, the analyses were appropriate for the research questions being asked, and it was a strength of the field of life satisfaction literature that one study incorporated longitudinal design (*Kramer & Rodgers, 2020).

Primary Findings

Early Studies on Life Satisfaction

Though the outside world seems to make assumptions about the life satisfaction of those who are childfree (Bell, 2013; Chou & Chi, 2004; Mcquillan et al., 2012; Miall, 1986; Mollen, 2006; Peterson, 2015; *Zhang & Liu, 2007), the results from earlier studies reflect a lack of evidence to demonstrate that being childfree means lesser satisfaction (*Callan, 1987; *Keith, 1983; *Rempel, 1985; *Rubin-Terrado, 1994). Two of the four studies support that the childfree are actually more satisfied in various domains than parents (*Callan, 1987; *Rempel, 1985).

Societal Expectation of Motherhood and Life Satisfaction

Two studies in this review validate the idea that mothers feel more pressure and thus suffer stigma due to their childfree status (*Tanaka & Johnson, 2014; *Stahnke et al., 2020). These results support earlier findings that there are negative societal beliefs regarding women without children as well as updated literature verifying the same phenomena (Lampman & Dowling-Guyer, 1995; Koropeckyj-Cox et al., 2018). Despite time, it seems that stigma still exists and that the United States remains pronatalist – pressuring of adults to have children, particularly women – as a society. Modern evidence-based research that supports the positive effects of the childfree life may help to continue to eliminate such falsities.

International Findings

Even in cultures that are extremely pressuring of having children, there is evidence that being childfree in later life (*Zhang & Liu, 2007; *Dykstra & Wagner, 2007) and middle life (*Keizer et al., 2009) positively influences life satisfaction. Most of the studies in this review were international, and yet, only two (*Majid et al., 2015; *Hansen et al., 2009) found being childless to negatively impact life satisfaction while all other studies support the association between being childfree and equal (*Keizer et al., 2009; *Keith, 1983) or higher satisfaction despite some nuance in types of life satisfaction found.

Life Satisfaction of the Childfree

Despite different purposes and the examination of different variables and their association/impact on life satisfaction, 13 of the 15 studies found that childlessness did not negatively impact life satisfaction. Each study either showed significant associations between childlessness and higher life satisfaction or found no significant difference in life satisfaction between parents and the childfree (*Keizer et al., 2009; *Keith, 1983). Further, even though the range of age of the studies was 40 years, the decade of the research did not affect results of these findings. Some of the studies demonstrated specific aspects of satisfaction that were positively associated with being childfree, such as financial stability (*Bień et al., 2017; *Stanca, 2012; *Rempel, 1985; *Zhang & Liu, 2007), having a college education (*Bień et al., 2017; *Zhang & Liu, 2007), living in urban areas (*Bień et al., 2017), freedom (*Callan, 1987), marriage (*Dykstra & Wagner, 2007), living in a less pronatalist society (*Hansen, 2012; *Tanaka & Johnson, 2014), better health (*Rempel, 1985), agreeableness (*Majid et al., 2015), and control over decisions (*Rubin-Terrado, 1994).

Based upon the included countries in this review, the relationship between life satisfaction and parenthood does not seem to be affected by culture, at least in terms of participant location, except for one study. *Hansen et al. (2009) found that childless Norwegian women reported lower life satisfaction and self-esteem when compared to mothers. Based upon the studies in this review, it is possible that parenthood has a more positive association with life satisfaction in Norway than in other countries. As identified in the study, Norway's government provides resources for supporting young families, which could result in happier parents. Without similar political support or resources, it is hard to compare Norway to other countries. In fact, when analyzed by a large-scale analysis of 22 countries, one review identified that in the 14 countries that found parents to be less happy than non-parents, the U.S. was the country indicated to be the least happy for parents. Even when compared to the country with the second-most-unhappy parents (Ireland), the gap between happiness of parents and non-parents in the U.S. is about 20% more than Ireland (Glass et al., 2016).

Despite the varied timeframe of the studies in this review, the findings consistently support the idea that life satisfaction is possible regardless of having children or not, with some studies lending support to the idea that parenthood is associated with lower life satisfaction, supported by both quantitative and qualitative findings. Further, the fact that this review incorporates research across four different continents and even more countries makes the findings uniquely generalizable across the world.

Limitations

Several limitations exist for this review. All but one study (*Kramer & Rodgers, 2020) was cross-sectional, which limits a more in-depth understanding of the relationship between parenthood status and life satisfaction. Further, many studies did not distinguish between whether one chose to remain childless or whether it was involuntary. While involuntarily childfree women and men can still be satisfied, this may be dependent on how they embrace their lives and the things they do have rather than focusing on the lack (Albert et al., 2010; *Stahnke et al., 2020; *Tanaka & Johnson, 2014). As indicated, it is often assumed that being childfree predicts life satisfaction, but life satisfaction may also predict being childfree. Perhaps those who become parents lack life satisfaction to begin with and are hoping to find life satisfaction by having children. While this study was particularly interested in research specific to “life satisfaction,” research that examines similar but different concepts such as “happiness” and “wellbeing” could be of value in future exploration; the narrow inclusion criteria of only “life satisfaction” for this study was necessary for being able to compare the findings.

Recommendations

Life satisfaction has been defined as “a cognitive evaluation of well-being that is based upon comparisons of actual achievements to aspired conditions” (*Hansen, 2012, p. 30). Subsequently, life satisfaction may be particularly important because all people strive to feel good or happy about their lives, especially as they age. It is also possible that individuals have some influence over their life satisfaction, as researchers have found that life satisfaction can transform or vary over time due to changing perceptions or life circumstances (Albert et al., 2010; *Stahnke et al., 2020; *Tanaka & Johnson, 2014). With potential control over one's satisfaction, behavioral health practitioners could use this knowledge to assist clients in reaching or aspiring for a sense of life satisfaction through making purposeful life changes.

This field of study would benefit from more primary data collection, qualitative designs, and longitudinal studies. This review only identified two qualitative studies, and further qualitative and mixed methods research is needed to more deeply examine the experiences of parents and the childfree to explore factors beyond demographic characteristics that may directly impact life satisfaction, particularly what can be done to improve life satisfaction. For example, how does individual personality (e.g., introversion vs. extroversion) impact life satisfaction and how do diverse individuals develop life satisfaction given their circumstances? Other studies could examine whether those with more interpersonal connections describe differences in life satisfaction and whether those who have a larger or higher quality social network report better life satisfaction. Questions such as the following may also be useful in exploring life satisfaction: (a) how have your feelings of satisfaction about your life changed at different points in your life?; (b) how is your satisfaction more or less impacted with other aspects of your life that are within your control?; (c) what aspects of your life are you are dissatisfied with?; (d) if you could wake up tomorrow and have one thing in your life be different, what would it be? Longitudinal research could also clarify whether and how life satisfaction changes or is transformed over time. Finally, while some studies look at similar concepts such as well-being, life satisfaction is the broadest, most far-reaching of these concepts and possibly the most realistic to achieve (Diener et al., 1985). While individuals are likely to experience domain-specific challenges at some point in their life (e.g., career, health, family), one can always strive for an overall satisfaction with life.

Conclusion

The results of this review support that being childfree is associated with positive appraisal of life satisfaction; however, there was a lack of research examining life satisfaction among diverse samples of childfree adults (e.g., those in gay or lesbian relationships, different racial groups). The limited number of contemporary studies in this review also support that more knowledge around partnership status and life satisfaction may be needed, particularly given trends that support reductions in individuals choosing marriage or long-term partnership. More qualitative, mixed method, and longitudinal research is needed to examine the relationship between life satisfaction and being childfree, as well as how partnership status impacts this association over time.

OPEN IN VIEWER

Figure 1.

Flow diagram of study screening and selection procedures.