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THE LEVEL OF SATISFACTION WITH LIFE
AFTER BECOMING A PARENT:
GENDER DIFFERENTIATION
Fulbright English Pre-academic Course 2008
OPIE
Institutional Affiliation - Ohio University
Names of authors
Pavlo Bohutskiy – Ukraine Gwendoline Nyambi– Cameroon Svitlana Volkova – Ukraine
Overview Introduction
Background
Research Question
Methodology
Results
Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Questions
BackgroundCook et al, 1982:
– Attitudes towards marriage on the increase The idea
that “marriage without children is not fully complete''
– Attitudes towards having children on the decrease
• Preference given to other priorities in life:
– career, money making, fun, self denial
Transition to the parenthood• The change of married couple to parenthood is considered a
“critical role transition point”
– Aldous, 1978
• Some authors present the transition to parenthood as a usual
event that can easily be predicted and managed
– Charting Parenthood, 2002
• It proves the fact that both personal and marital stress
increase after becoming a parent
• Multicultural Health Communication Centre, June 2003:
– Research also shows that parenthood could be a reason of
feelings like: anger, stress, guilt, confusion, and anxiety
Influence on life satisfaction?
Gender roles• Gender role attitudes shape parental attitudes differentially for
men and women Bernhartdt & Goldscheider, 2006
• Orientation towards transitions to fatherhood :
– Coltrane, 1996
– Nielsen, 1999
Research Question
• Do males and females report different levels
of life satisfaction after becoming parents?
Main Goals To define changes in life attitudes in female and
male after becoming a parents
To evaluate changes in life preferences before
and after parenthood
To prove or deny the hypothesis of gender
influence on peoples’ life satisfaction after
parenthood
Research
Survey
Analyses
Methodology: Questionnaire• General information:
– gender, age, country and number of children.
• Before parenthood:
– rank of life priorities
– scale of time spent on those activities;
– level of life satisfaction.
• After parenthood:
– rank of life priorities
– scale of time spent on those activities;
– level of life satisfaction.
0 – 100%
7 main
priorities
Not Satisfied Very Satisfied
Main categories
of life attitude
Money Making
Career
Sport/Health
Family
Friends
Self-Improvement
Other
Participants
Males Females
Gender
38.5% 65.5%
Age Females Males
Response
Percent
Response
Percent
<25 31.3% 50.0%
26-30 43.8% 20.0%
>30 25.0% 30.0%
Amount of
children
Females Males
Response
Percent
Response
Percent
1 75.0% 70.0%
2 12.5% 20.0%
>2 12.5% 10.0%
Money
makingCareer Family Sport/health Friends Self-improv. Other
Male 3.1 5 5.1 3.3 4.5 4.4 2.6
Female 4.56 5.63 4.88 3 3.88 4.44 1.63
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Th
e r
an
k o
f p
rio
rity
Ranking of priopities with life BEFORE parenthood
Money
makingCareer Family Sport/health Friends Self-improv. Other
Male 3.6 4.7 5.4 4.2 4.8 3.4 1.9
Female 4.13 4.81 6.38 3.06 3.38 4.25 2
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Th
e r
an
k o
f p
rio
rity
Ranking of priorities in life AFTER parenthood
Distinctions in rank of priorities in life by gender
Money
makingCareer Family Sport/health Friends Self-improv. Other
Male 0.5 -0.3 0.3 0.9 0.3 -1 -0.7
Female -0.43 -0.82 1.5 0.06 -0.5 -0.19 0.37
0.5
-0.3
0.3
0.9
0.3
-1
-0.7
-0.43
-0.82
1.5
0.06
-0.5
-0.19
0.37
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
Money
makingCareer Family Sport/health Friends Self-impr. Other
Male 20 20.5 18.3 11.7 16.3 7.9 5.3
Female 19.38 29.56 22.06 5.56 10.19 8.69 4.56
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Tim
e,
%
Amount of time (%) spent on the following priority BEFORE parenthood: gender differences
Money
makingCareer Family Sport/health Friends Self-impr. Other
Male 23.7 12.5 34 7.7 9.8 8.1 4.2
Female 14.56 17.88 37.19 6.69 9.13 11.31 3.25
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Tim
e,
%
Amount of time (%) spend on the following priority AFTER parenthood: gender differences
Money
makingCareer Family Sport/health Friends Self-impr. Other
Male 3.7 -8 15.7 -4 -6.5 0.2 -1.1
Female -4.82 -11.68 15.13 1.13 -1.06 2.62 -1.31
3.7
-8
15.7
-4
-6.5
0.2
-1.1
-4.82
-11.68
15.13
1.13
-1.06
2.62
-1.31
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
20
Distinctions in time spending by gender
Conclusions from figures:• there are no direct relation between the ranking of priorities
and time spent for the specific activity
• For male:
• – the level of priority in per cent for such activities as
sport/health, friends, career and self improvement are high
then the per cent of time spent for these actions;
• the level of priority in per cent for activities such as family and
money making is less than the per cent of time spent.
Conclusions from figures:• For female:
• – the level of priority in per cent for such activities as sport/health,
friends and self improvement are high then the per cent of time
spent for these actions;
• the level of priority in per cent for activities such as family is less than
the per cent of time spent.
• The gap between priorities and time spent for male is 1.7 time more
than for female
3.20
3.90
4.13
3.94
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00
Before
After
Level on satisfaction from life BEFORE/AFTER having children: gender differences
Female Male
Conclusions• Birth of a child makes females feel less satisfied in life in
contrast to male who feel more satisfied.
• Before becoming a parent females have opportunities to spent more
time for such activities as:
– as money making and career, what make them feel more
independent and self-confident;
– part of females has to combine motherhood and work, or part
time work.
>25 25-30 <30
Male 0.6 0.5 1
Female -0.4 -0.15 0
0.60.5
1
-0.4
-0.15
0
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
Changing in level on satisfaction from life before and after having children: gender and age differences
Thank you for attention
Questions?