Abstract
Our new analysis of data from the Millennium Cohort Study confirms that a happy mother is a much better predictor of future family outcomes than a happy father. We looked at data on up to 13,000 families, following them from when the children – born mostly during 2000/01 – were nine months old to when they were aged 14 years old. As a new parent with a nine month old baby, mother’s happiness with the couple relationship predicts her own subsequent happiness and parental stability, her teenage son or daughter’s subsequent mental health problems, and her subsequent closeness to her teenage daughter, better than does father’s happiness with the relationship. The happiness of either parent predicts subsequent closeness to sons, and also to each other’s happiness, to a similar extent. However father’s happiness does not predict his teenage daughter’s mental health problems or mother’s subsequent closeness with her daughter.
| Original language | English |
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| Place of Publication | www.marriagefoundation.org.uk |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2019 |
Research Groups and Themes
- Families and Parenting
- SPS Centre for the Study of Poverty and Social Justice
