18/07/2025
Με τέσσερα παιδιά έχω απομακρυνθεί τόσο πολύ από την ατομική ευδαιμονία. Δεν κατανοώ καν αυτές τις συζητήσεις, δεν με αφορούν. Η ευτυχία όταν έχεις παιδιά είναι κάτι πολύ μεγαλύτερο, συνολικότερο από την προσωπική ευχαρίστηση. Είμαστε άνθρωποι σημαίνει υπάρχουμε για τους άλλους και μέσα από τους άλλους, δεν σημαίνει υπάρχουμε για τις φευγαλέες στιγμές ατομικής ευχαρίστησης
Having children is terrible for quality of life—but the truth about what parenthood means for happiness is a lot more complicated, Paul Bloom wrote in 2021. https://theatln.tc/RiXSF60R
Studies show that when a child is born, parents experience a decrease in happiness that doesn’t go away for a long time, in addition to a drop in marital satisfaction that doesn’t usually recover until children leave the house. After all, having children, particularly when they are young, involves financial struggle, sleep deprivation, and stress. For mothers, there is also in many cases the physical strain of pregnancy and breastfeeding. And children can turn a cheerful and loving romantic partnership into a zero-sum battle over who gets to sleep and work and who doesn’t.
But the love we usually have toward our children means that our choice to bring them into existence has value above and beyond whatever effect they have on our happiness, Bloom wrote. This suggests that “there’s more to life than happiness. When I say that raising my sons is the best thing I’ve ever done, I’m not saying that they gave me pleasure in any simple day-to-day sense, and I’m not saying that they were good for my marriage. I’m talking about something deeper, having to do with satisfaction, purpose, and meaning. It’s not just me. When you ask people about their life’s meaning and purpose, parents say that their lives have more meaning than those of nonparents.”
📸: Christopher Anderson / Magnum
