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Parents Transmit Happiness along with Associated Values and Behaviors to Their Children: A Lifelong Happiness Dividend?

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  • Headey, Bruce

    (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research)

  • Muffels, Ruud

    (Tilburg University)

  • Wagner, Gert G.

    (Max Planck Institute for Human Development)

Abstract

There are strong two-way links between parent and child happiness (life satisfaction), even for 'children' who have grown up, moved to their own home and partnered themselves. German panel evidence shows that transmission of (un)happiness from parents to children is partly due to transmission of values and behaviors known to be associated with happiness (Headey, Wagner and Muffels, 2010, 2012). These values and behaviors include giving priority to pro-social and family values, rather than material values, maintaining a preferred balance between work and leisure, active social and community participation, and regular exercise. Both parents have about equal influence on the values and behaviors which children adopt. However, the life satisfaction of adult 'children' continues to be directly influenced by the life satisfaction of their mothers, with the influence of fathers being only indirect, via transmission of values and behaviors. There appears to be a lifelong happiness dividend (or unhappiness dividend) due to parenting. Structural equation models with two-way causation indicate that the life satisfaction of offspring can significantly affect the satisfaction of their parents, as well as vice-versa, long after the 'children' have left home. Data come from 25 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel Survey (SOEP, 1984-2008). SOEP is the only panel survey worldwide in which data on life satisfaction have been obtained from parents and an adequate sub-sample of children no longer living in the parental home.

Suggested Citation

  • Headey, Bruce & Muffels, Ruud & Wagner, Gert G., 2012. "Parents Transmit Happiness along with Associated Values and Behaviors to Their Children: A Lifelong Happiness Dividend?," IZA Discussion Papers 6944, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6944
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    Cited by:

    1. Anja Vatterrott, 2015. "Socialisation or Institutional Context: What Determines the First and Second Birth Behaviour of East–West German Migrants?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 31(4), pages 383-415, October.
    2. Bruce Headey & Ruud Muffels, 2016. "Towards a Theory of Life Satisfaction: Accounting for Stability, Change and Volatility in 25-Year Life Trajectories in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 864, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    3. Nabanita Datta Gupta & Jonas Jessen & C. Katharina Spiess, 2023. "Maternal Life Satisfaction and Child Development from Toddlerhood to Adolescence," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1189, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    4. Necker, Sarah & Voskort, Andrea, 2014. "Politics and parents — Intergenerational transmission of values after a regime shift," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 177-194.
    5. Edsel L Beja, 2018. "Migrant-family background and subjective well-being: Evidence using Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition," Migration Letters, Migration Letters, vol. 15(3), pages 398-408, July.
    6. Schnitzlein Daniel D. & Wunder Christoph, 2016. "Are We Architects of Our Own Happiness? The Importance of Family Background for Well-Being," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 16(1), pages 125-149, January.
    7. Henrik Dobewall & Mirka Hintsanen & Kateryna Savelieva & Christian Hakulinen & Päivi Merjonen & Kia Gluschkoff & Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen, 2019. "Intergenerational Transmission of Latent Satisfaction Reflected by Satisfaction Across Multiple Life Domains: A Prospective 32-year Follow-Up Study," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 955-970, March.
    8. Bruce Headey & Ruud Muffels, 2018. "A Theory of Life Satisfaction Dynamics: Stability, Change and Volatility in 25-Year Life Trajectories in Germany," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 837-866, November.
    9. Kang-Rae Ma, 2016. "Intergenerational Transmission of Wealth and Life Satisfaction," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 11(4), pages 1287-1308, December.
    10. Felix FitzRoy & Michael Nolan & Max Steinhardt & David Ulph, 2014. "Testing the tunnel effect: comparison, age and happiness in UK and German panels," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-30, December.
    11. Headey, Bruce & Wagner, Gert G., 2018. "Alternative Values-Based 'Recipes' for Life Satisfaction: German Results with an Australian Replication," IZA Discussion Papers 11818, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Berta Schnettler & Edgardo Miranda-Zapata & Ligia Orellana & Héctor Poblete & Germán Lobos & María Lapo & Cristian Adasme-Berríos, 2020. "Domain Satisfaction and Overall Life Satisfaction: Testing the Spillover-Crossover Model in Chilean Dual-Earner Couples," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-23, October.
    13. Richter, Nina & Bondü, Rebecca & Spiess, C. Katharina & Wagner, Gert G. & Trommsdorff, Gisela, 2018. "Relations Among Maternal Life Satisfaction, Shared Activities, and Child Well-Being," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 9, pages 1-12.
    14. Felix FitzRoy & Michael Nolan & Max Steinhardt & David Ulph, 2014. "Testing the tunnel effect: comparison, age and happiness in UK and German panels," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-30, December.
    15. Kyoungmi Park & Shun Wang, 2019. "Youth Activities and Children’s Subjective Well-Being in Korea," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(7), pages 2351-2365, October.
    16. Guofang Liu & Qingxuan Meng & Qian Su, 2024. "Risk or Opportunity? How is Children’s Subjective Well-Being Affected by Their Parents During Public Health Emergencies," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(1), pages 81-97, February.
    17. Peilian Chi & Hongfei Du & Ronnel B. King & Nan Zhou & Hongjian Cao & Xiuyun Lin, 2019. "Well-Being Contagion in the Family: Transmission of Happiness and Distress Between Parents and Children," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 12(6), pages 2189-2202, December.
    18. Mathias Kloss & Thomas Kirschstein & Steffen Liebscher & Martin Petrick, 2019. "Robust Productivity Analysis: An application to German FADN data," Papers 1902.00678, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2019.
    19. Pataporn Sukontamarn & M. Niaz Asadullah & Nopphawan Photphisutthiphong & Yen Thi Hai Nguyen, 2023. "Happiness in Old Age: The Daughter Connection," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 1729-1757, June.
    20. Powdthavee, Nattavudh & Stutzer, Alois, 2014. "Economic Approaches to Understanding Change in Happiness," IZA Discussion Papers 8131, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    21. Laura Schräpler & Jörg-Peter Schräpler & Gert G. Wagner, 2019. "Wie (in)stabil ist die Lebenszufriedenheit? Eine Sequenzanalyse mit Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP)," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1045, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP); inter-generational transmission; child happiness; subjective well-being; life satisfaction; structural equation models;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

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