Stumbling on Happiness 2

Daniel Gilbert also highlights studies regarding the joy of children. Couples generally start out quite happy in their marriages and then become progressively less satisfied over the course of their lives together, getting close to their original levels of satisfaction only when their children leave home (Walker 'Some variations in Marital Satisfaction' in Equalities in Family Life, ed. Chester and Peel, 1977). This pattern of satisfaction over the life cycle describes women better than men. Careful studies of how women feel as they go about their daily activities show that they are less happy when taking care of their children than when eating, exercising, shopping, napping, or watching TV (Kahneman et al 'A Survey Method for Characterizing Daily Life Experience, Science, 2004). Indeed, looking after the kids appears to be only slightly more pleasant than doing housework.