Happiness in Midlife Parental Roles: A Contextual Mixed Methods Analysis

This article focuses on midlife parental role satisfaction using date from a culturally diverse sample of 490 Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, parents. Results show that most parents are happy in their roles. Income satisfaction, intergenerational relationship quality, parents' main activity, health, age, ethnic background, and perceptions of how children "turn out," however, influence their subjective levels of happiness. These findings are discussed in terms of practical implications for professionals interested in midlife parental health and well-being. Key Words: cultural diversity, health and well-being, intergenerational relations, midlife parenting, mixed methods, role satisfaction. It is well established that the experience of parenthood has dramatically transformed over time. Not only are parents living longer and having fewer children, but their roles have become more challenging as children navigate their way to independence and complete adulthood. Indeed, the current generation of young people has been described as "on the frontiers of adulthood" (Settersten, Furstenberg, & Rumbaut, 2005) because they commonly delay adult transitions and responsibilities. In addition, parents (especially mothers) are highly likely to juggle both paid and unpaid work roles, and many parents are delaying their retirement plans for economic reasons (Friedberg, 2007). Despite these changes, parenthood continues to remain a highly valued and cherished role that is at the top of most parents' identity salience hierarchies (Callero, 1985; Thoits, 1992). In other words, parenthood often ranks ahead of marriage and paid work as a prominent source of identity (Rogers & White, 1998). Further, satisfaction with parenting is consistently found to be an important evaluative component that is central to individual and family development and well-being. Notably, those with happier parental roles tend to display overall better health and subjective well-being (such as lower rates of depression, physical health concerns, and marital malaise) compared with those in "unhappy" roles (e.g., see Wickrama et al., 2001). And although there has been an abundance of work conducted on the topic of parenthood, most research has focused on the parents of babies, young children, or adolescents (e.g., see Downing-Matibag, 2009) rather than on young adults. This topic is particularly relevant given that the North American population is highly heterogeneous and rapidly aging with approximately one-third in midlife. For example, some of these baby boomer parents (i.e., those born between 1946 and 1964) are in relatively good health and economic standing, whereas others are facing chronic health problems or financial challenge. Yet, previous studies have paid little attention to the cultural context in which parental roles are experienced. It is recognized, however, that cultural heritage or ethnic identification is experienced differently and in complex ways by individuals across diverse family backgrounds. For instance, ethnic groups with clearer (stronger) normative structures about the timing of family transitions, such as a child's home leaving and marriage, may be more satisfied as parents. Alternatively, these same expectations may result in lower parental satisfaction due to the restrictions that such norms impose on families, especially when there may be generational differences pertaining to pathways out of the home (e.g., school, marriage, work, and independence). In short, cultural background can differentially shape the meaning of, and factors associated with, family roles and relationships (McCabe, 2006). Thus, a focus on sociocultural environment becomes even timelier as families continue to diversify because of high rates of immigration (especially from Asian and other family-centered societies). Limited prior research is also largely based on singular methodological approaches (particularly statistical analyses) and therefore cannot adequately link structural and contextual family processes. …