From the time you’re little girls, society starts telling you that you need to get married and have children when you grow up so you can live happily ever after. But new research says that’s just not true. According to a prominent expert in happiness, women who aren’t married and don’t have kids are actually the happiest of all.
Behavioral scientist Paul Dolan recently spoke at the Hay festival in the U.K., telling crowds that the latest data shows those traditional symbols of success don’t always equal happiness. He explained that women with no spouse and no children actually live longer than their married child-raising peers.
Dolan summed up studies and broke it down in an easy to understand way, explaining that there’s some “good longitudinal data” following the same people over time, but he says, “I’m going to do a massive disservice to that science and just say: if you’re a man, you should probably get married; if you’re a woman, don’t bother.”
Source: Harper's Bazaar