“It is established that parents live longer than those who are not parents”. These are the first words of the study published this week in the Journal of Epidemiology &Community Health and titled “Payback Time? Influence of having children on mortality in old age” or “Time for revenge? The influence of being a parent on mortality at an advanced age”. The purpose of this study? To observe the link between having children and mortality, specifically with age, when health begins to deteriorate and the need for family support arises. Verdict? At age 60 and over, life expectancy is on average 2 years longer for fathers and 1.5 years for mothers. Not bad, right?
The study was conducted in Sweden among 1.4 million women and men born between 1911 and 1925, followed from the age of 60. The researchers also looked at their child(ren) and whether or not they were married (including widowed, divorced or never-married). Thus, they were able to observe that from the age of 60, the risk of mortality is lower among parents than among people who have never had children (an observation that is confirmed the older they get). And it is among unmarried men that they are the weakest (according to the researchers, the impact of the child would be even greater because the unmarried man has no partner to rely on). However, while previous studies have suggested that having a daughter affects life expectancy, this new study indicates that the sex of the child has no impact.
In summary, to live a long time, let's have children!
