Does Lone Motherhood Decrease Women’s Subjective Well-Being? Evidence from Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Anna Baranowska-Rataj (), Anna Matysiak and Monika Mynarska ()
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Monika Mynarska: Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics

No 48, Working Papers from Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics

Abstract: This paper contributes to the discussion on the effects of single motherhood on happiness. We use a mixed-method approach. First, based on in-depth interviews with mothers who gave birth while single, we explore mechanisms through which children may influence mothers’ subjective well-being. In a second step, we analyze panel survey data to quantify this influence. Our results leave no doubt that, while raising a child outside of marriage poses many challenges, parenthood has some positive influence on a lone mother’s life. Our qualitative evidence shows that children are a central point in an unmarried woman’s life, and that many life decisions are taken with consideration of the child’s welfare, including escaping from pathological relationships. Our quantitative evidence shows that, although the general level of happiness among unmarried women is lower than among their married counterparts, raising a child does not have a negative impact on their subjective well-being.

Keywords: nonmarital childbearing; single motherhood; happiness; well-being; methodological triangulation; mixed methods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 J13 J17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2012
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem and nep-hap
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:isd:wpaper:48

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