Interestingly, second and third children don’t add to parents’ happiness at all. In fact, these additional children seem to make mothers less happy than mothers with only one child—though still happier than women with no children.

We all know of China’s One-Child Policy. We also have heard arguments (and almost everyone I know has one) about its “benefits.” While all these arguments are valid they tend to be either personal (read: the Chinese custom is to have many children) or political (read: why should the government tell me how many children to have). This article seems to set out a more scientifically based argument based on the happiness level that children bring to parents and how that happiness seems to decrease as parents have more children. Interesting stuff that makes sense.

How many children should you have?