Parents With Four Or More Children Are Most Satisfied In Life, Study

Scientists find that those who have four or more children experience the greatest satisfaction in life even though it is expensive, along with the pressure of time and effort in raising them, according to researchers at Perth's Edith Cowan University in Australia.

Parents from different family types were asked to finish a survey about resilience, social support and self-esteem. The family types included "same-sex parents, single mothers and fathers, families with multiple children and those with a single child".

The team was given a rank based on the questions asked.

The analysis showed that parents who had four or more children said that they had the greatest satisfaction, followed by same-sex parents. However, single fathers were the least satisfied in life.

"With large families, we think they have social support within the family," Bronwyn Harman, study author and a lecturer in the School of Psychology and Social Science, told ABC News . "The kids are never bored, they have someone to play with and they get independence quite early on."

Raising four children can be chaotic as well as joyful Same-sex parents also tended to be happy due to the "social acceptance". Only single fathers tended to be unhappy as they felt like the "lesser parent," according to the Daily Mail.

Scientists suggested that the government should factor the different kinds of families, and provide the requirements that they needed.

"We need to remember that different groups of parents have different needs to contribute to their life satisfaction," Harman said. "It would be much better if we were able to separate the needs of different families and tailor services towards those individual cohorts," according to hngn.