Does Having Children Reduce Quality Of Life?
The answer to whether having children reduces quality of life is not simple because it is neither yes nor no. Having children changes life, as priorities also change. It is no longer about what you want or need, but also about providing your children with a good quality of life.
What happens is that sometimes both objectives conflict. For this reason, especially in the early years, parents sacrifice certain aspects of their quality of life for that of their children.
What aspects mark the quality of life?
Quality of life is a subjective concept, since each person can understand it in a different way. Furthermore, not all aspects of quality of life have the same weight for each one.
We will take as a reference the graph of the quality of life that is based on Quality of life: manual for professionals in education, health and social services by MA Verdugo, professor at the University of Salamanca, and other authors. This chart is made up of eight aspects that determine the quality of life. However, we will only focus on those that vary the most when having children.
Physical and psychological health
It is inevitable that lack of sleep, worries or increased responsibilities affect us. This translates into greater physical and mental fatigue. For this reason, patience, humor and concentration are aspects that are often diminished.
However, not everything is negative. The physical activity that parents do with their children can be compared to sports activity in many respects. Despite everything, the psychological part is the most significant. Watching a child grow, learn, and excel is a continual surprise that comforts, makes you proud, and excites.
Social relationships
Your circle of acquaintances will increase as your child grows. You will have the opportunity to meet new people when you accompany your children to school or their extracurricular activities. It will be easy to talk to them, since they are parents who are in the same situation as you.
But what about your family and friends? There may be times when it is more difficult for you to combine your children’s day-to-day life with spending time with your family and friends. The good news is that it is not permanent. You just have to find the balance between responsibilities and social relationships, closely related to leisure.
Leisure
Leisure is a key factor in having a good quality of life. If you do activities that you like and that fill you, you will feel good, happier and with more energy. What is the most common problem when you have children? That you have less time for yourself.
When children are young, you can make plans with your family or friends. In this way, you enhance your social relationships while having a good time with your children.
On the other hand, as they grow up, you can share hobbies and do activities or sports together. These links with your children will add quality of life. In addition, while they enjoy their activities with other children, you can take advantage of that time for your personal leisure, which will be very rewarding.
Quality of life, children and work?
Work is a key point to take into account. It influences, to a large extent, our quality of life at an economic, psychological, physical and self-realization level.
The reality is that in many cases, when a woman has children, she is not eligible for positions of greater responsibility in her own company. It is true that having children can affect work performance, but in the same way that work influences our daily lives.
One of the biggest obstacles to quality of life is job uncertainty. However, if the balance is found, these three goals can be achieved.
Quality of life with children
Having children changes life and its quality because it is a continuous roller coaster. Does having children reduce quality of life? Sometimes. Do they add quality of life? Also. There are times when it will be easy, others more difficult, but what is certain is that it will become essential.
