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Parenthood Can Help You Live Longer In Older Age, Research Suggests (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Parenthood could boost your chances of living longer in your later years, according researchers who believe the effect could be down to children helping with care and support. While previous research has shown that adults with children live longer than those without, the new study unpicks how the effect plays out in older age. Modig and colleagues used national registry data to follow almost 1.5 million Swedes born between 1911 and 1925 as they aged. The team found that while the risk of death increased with age for all adults, having children was linked to greater longevity. The results are published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. At the age of 60, men who had children had almost two years more on their remaining life expectancy than those without, at 20.2 and 18.4 years respectively. A similar trend was seen for women aged 60, with life expectancies of 23.1 years for those without children and 24.6 years for mothers. By contrast at the age of 80, parents had a life expectancy of 7.7 years for men and 9.5 years for women, compared to 7 years for men without children and 8.9 years for women without children. The findings reveal that the benefits of having children became more pronounced with age -- an effect that was greater for men than women. Furthermore, the team found that having children had a stronger impact on the longevity of men who were not married than those with a spouse.
You need to be in good health to have children. You need to be in good health to live longer.
Also, many of those who gain 2 years in life expectancy lose many more years of piece and quiet having to raise their brats.
This. You gain 1.8 years, lose 18.
Or you could gain 18 years + 1.8 years. I was uncertain about having kids, but went with my wife's wishes. Ended up with two Eagle Scouts who paid for their own college education via academic scholarships, one a National Merit Scholar. Their growing up was a delight punctuated only by fights over messy rooms. I now enjoy spoiling my grandchildren.
It's a crap shoot, though. My neighbor's son stole three cars by the time he was 15 and is now a career criminal. I wish I could claim the difference was my superior parenting, but know better. I made my share of mistakes and then some. I just got lucky. YMMV, there are no guarantees.