Is fatherhood more appealing than motherhood? What new research shows

globalnews.ca:

When it comes to the idea of becoming a parent, more men want children than women, according to a new U.S. study.

Pew Research Center surveyed 1,495 young adults aged 18 to 34 in the United States late last year to find out how they felt about whether they wanted to be parents and regardless of gender. Fifty-one per cent said they want to enter parenthood, with another 30 per cent said they were not sure, while 18 per cent said they did not want kids.

But when broken down by gender, the data paints a slightly different picture with 57 per cent of men hoping to become a father someday, while 45 per cent of women said the same. At the same time, just 15 per cent of men said they were not in favour of parenthood at all, while 21 per cent of women were found to have the same stance.

“This not the first time in history, I think, this is being pretty persisted, that men want children more than women,” Marina Adshade, assistant professor of teaching at the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver School of Economics, said.

“There’s still that enormous burden that’s placed on women, especially women who are birth mothers who have to go through childbirth. That’s zero fun for anybody. There’s a recovery period.”

Adshade told Global News it’s not just a physical toll that women go through, because having a child can also impact their finances as well.

She said it’s sometimes known as the “mommy penalty.”

“Women who are mothers, they see much slower progression in their careers, they see slower wage growth in their careers,” Adshade said.

That statement appears to match with findings from a study released late last year by University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) economics professor Marie Connolly, alongside fellow UQAM economic