In fact no group of parents reports significantly greater well-being than the childless. What counts in contributing to feelings of well-being and mental health are factors such as social status, employment and socioeconomic status. Parents are exposed to a greater number of stressors that negate and even exceed the emotional rewards of parenthood. As if this were not enough, this stress is considered by many a personal matter and an indication of their inability to cope with the normal demands of having children. Is the shame the horror or the horror the shame? In either case this exacerbates feelings of inadequacy.

The exorbitant cost of child rearing also contributes to the feeling of unwell-being caused by raising a child in today's world. The U.S. Department of agriculture estimates that families spend anywhere from $134,370 to $269,520 raising a child to the age of seventeen. This does not include the cost of college. For couples with children that is a lot...

Dealing with the obligations of work as well as the obligations of family can be highly stressful. And once the kids are out of the house research shows the stress does not terminate. After the chickadees have flown the coop parents still worry about their grown children's financial well-being, their social relationships, their happiness, and their mental and physical well-being. Many adults see these measures as indicative of the quality of parenting they bestowed upon their offspring.
So it seems that the consequences/rewards of raising children are either guilt or shame. Happiness is at best a long shot. Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to conceive.

Works Cited

Simon, Robin W. "The Joys of Parenthood, Reconsibered." Contexts, Spring 2008. Web. 7 May 2013.