在线英语听力室_免费在线英语听力学习网站

Parents May Be Happier Than Childless Couples有孩子的夫妻家庭更幸福

Dear A Moment of Science,
亲爱的《科学一刻》栏目组，

I’m a parent of two young kids. It’s challenging, but overall¹ a very rewarding experience. Yet I keep hearing about studies suggesting that parents are less happy than childless couples and single people without children. How sound is this science?
我有两个小孩。养育他们是件很有挑战性的事，但总的来说也让我获益良多。我一直听说一些研究表明，有孩子的夫妻不及那些没有孩子的夫妻和单身人士幸福。这种说法合理吗？

Well, it’s true that over the past several years a wave of studies has associated parenting with unhappiness. But that’s not the whole story. In fact, one study by researchers at the University of California, Riverside, the University of British Columbia, and Stanford found just the opposite: that, all things considered, parenthood is strongly associated with happiness and meaning.
的确，在过去几年中，很多研究都认为养育子女会降低幸福感。但不完全是这样。事实上，一项由加州大学河滨分校、英属哥伦比亚大学和斯坦福大学研究人员所做的研究得出的结论却恰恰相反，综合所有因素，亲子关系与幸福和意义有很着紧密的联系。

Specifically², the study found that parents are happier when taking care of their kids than when doing other chores. Dads especially seemed to find happiness and meaning compared to non dads.
研究还特别发现夫妻在照顾孩子的时候要比做家务时快乐得多。尤其要说明的是，有孩子的丈夫要比没有孩子的丈夫更能寻找到幸福与意义。

Now, of course this doesn’t mean that all parents are always happier than all non parents. Parenting happiness depends, at least in part, on the particulars of a situation. For example, the study also found that older, married parents are on average happier than younger parents and single parents.
当然，这并不是说所有有孩子的夫妻总是比那些没有孩子的夫妻要更幸福。亲子关系的幸福至少部分地取决于某个特殊情境。比如，研究同时发现年龄较大的父母一般来说要比年轻的父母或单亲父母更幸福。

And anyone who’s been a parent knows that raising kids is a tough, tough job filled with as many difficult and painful moments as with moments of joy. But on the whole, at least according to this and other emerging³ studies, parenting tends to coincide⁴ with happiness and fulfillment in life.
任何做父母的人都知道养育孩子不是件易事，会遇到很多困难，有欢笑也有痛苦。但总的来说，至少就这项研究和其它已有的研究来看，有孩子的夫妻更容易在生活中找到幸福和满足感。