Men Just as Likely as Women to Want Children

Do women or men want children more? A study found men want children almost as much as women.

In a study presented at an annual conference of the British Sociological Association, 63 percent of women and 59 percent of men said they wanted children.

Researcher Robin Hadley, of Keele University, found men were significantly more likely to suffer depression, feelings of isolation, anger, jealousy and sadness because they didn’t have children. Women were more likely to experience yearning or guilt from being childless.

“Sixty-three percent of women and 59

percent of men said they wanted children.”

The study also found men were more likely to feel social and cultural pressures to have kids, while women felt biological urges and personal desire.

“There is very little research on the desire for fatherhood among men. My work shows that there was a similar level of desire for parenthood among childless men and women,” Hadley said. “This challenges the common idea that women are much more likely to want to have children than men and that they consistently experience a range of negative emotions more deeply if they don’t have children.”

Source: Psychcentral.com.