Most women say they would feel incomplete without having children, but it turns out childless men actually suffer depresseion at way higher rates than women! A new study found that found that men are more likely to feel isolated, depressed, angry, and sadder than women if they don't have kids. This challenges the idea that women are more likely to want children than men and the effects it has on them.
The research was conducted by Robin Hadley of Keele University in which he surveyed 27 men and 81 women between the ages of 20 to 66–average age being 41–who were not parents. The results showed that 59 percent of men and 63 percent of women displayed the desire to want children. But the huge difference was in their responses to being childless and what drove their desire to have children.
According to the U.K. Daily Mail, 38 percent of childless men experienced depression compared to 27 percent of women who didn't have children. Of those men who wanted children 50 percent experienced isolation because they didn't have any in comparison to 27 percent of women who didn't.
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But why are men feeling so impacted by lacking children in their lives? The study discovered that cultural, societal, and family pressures mostly drove men to want kids, whereas women were motivated by personal desire, biological urge, or other major influences. As one man in the survey put it, "If you don't have children or grandchildren then that dimension of your life is missing."
The study also found that childless men expressed higher levels of anger, depression, sadness, jealousy, and isolation than women. It showed that one in four men experienced anger due to having no children, but only 18 percent of women felt the same. The same applied to sadness where 56 percent of men said they were sad not having kids and 43 percent of women agreed.
However, the irony in this study is the fact that men and women with children were surveyed separately asking if they wanted more children and the results were reversed. Of the 125 men and women questioned, 55 percent of men wanted more, compared to 59 percent of the mothers who wanted more kids. These moms experienced the depression, anger, guilty, and yearning that the childless men from the other survey had.
What an interesting study! I'm so used to hearing women talk about how they want kids that it is easy to forget about how men feel on the subject matter. It's fascinating how they're suddenly experiencing this daddy gene they need to fulfill and if they don't they feel bad about it. Perhaps it's also a biological need to spread their seed. But this serves as excellent news for women out there who want to be mothers and think finding a guy who wants to be a dad is hard work. Looks like many are ready for the responsibilities of fatherhood after all!
Image via flickr/ momboleum
