Parental happiness and social policy in Asia
Parental happiness and social policy in Asia
People in East and South Asia widely believe that having children brings fulfilment to an individual’s life. However, over the past fifty years, modernisation in Asia has been accompanied by a remarkable drop in birth rates to a level even lower than most western countries. Prior research on western nations has shown that the time demands and financial stresses of parenthood, as well as current inflexible employment practices, contribute to the high cost of parenthood and discount the emotional rewards of having children. This study investigates the happiness of parents and childless individuals in East and South Asia, and whether social policies can improve parental happiness. We use individual-level data in 10 Asian countries from the World Values and the Asian Barometer Surveys, and find no country where parents report significantly greater happiness than non-parents after controlling for relevant sociodemographic differences. Multilevel models show that paid annual leave, paid maternity and parental leave, and flexible working schedules as well as a comprehensive policy index help alleviate the disparity in happiness between parents and non-parents across countries, in particular work flexibility, while family-friendly policies have no noticeable negative effects on non-parents’ wellbeing.
parenthood, Asian families, work-family policy, happiness
123-144
Chao, Shih-Yi
66a5d917-544a-46ea-85d7-7a2d303d4469
Glass, Jennifer
89b9b98d-7a7f-4a21-b3d5-3b21977bf5fd
6 May 2020
Chao, Shih-Yi
66a5d917-544a-46ea-85d7-7a2d303d4469
Glass, Jennifer
89b9b98d-7a7f-4a21-b3d5-3b21977bf5fd
Abstract
People in East and South Asia widely believe that having children brings fulfilment to an individual’s life. However, over the past fifty years, modernisation in Asia has been accompanied by a remarkable drop in birth rates to a level even lower than most western countries. Prior research on western nations has shown that the time demands and financial stresses of parenthood, as well as current inflexible employment practices, contribute to the high cost of parenthood and discount the emotional rewards of having children. This study investigates the happiness of parents and childless individuals in East and South Asia, and whether social policies can improve parental happiness. We use individual-level data in 10 Asian countries from the World Values and the Asian Barometer Surveys, and find no country where parents report significantly greater happiness than non-parents after controlling for relevant sociodemographic differences. Multilevel models show that paid annual leave, paid maternity and parental leave, and flexible working schedules as well as a comprehensive policy index help alleviate the disparity in happiness between parents and non-parents across countries, in particular work flexibility, while family-friendly policies have no noticeable negative effects on non-parents’ wellbeing.
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Published_APS 2020
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Accepted/In Press date: 5 January 2020
Published date: 6 May 2020
Keywords:
parenthood, Asian families, work-family policy, happiness
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Local EPrints ID: 482237
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/482237
ISSN: 1744-1730
PURE UUID: 91e180d1-a7a8-4079-b39b-f65f3aa6579e
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Date deposited: 21 Sep 2023 16:59
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 13:58
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Author:
Shih-Yi Chao
Author:
Jennifer Glass
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