Many people have children to find deep personal fulfillment or to give their lives greater meaning. Whether having kids actually makes us happier at a core, fundamental level has long interested researchers.

So far, the results are mixed. But we’ve learned a lot about how parenting affects our mental health and overall satisfaction with life.

Research identifies two key life stages that make parents happiest

Jess, a research scientist and mom who goes by The Science Mama on social media, recently shared results from some pretty interesting studies from the past decade.

The surveys she highlighted aimed to get to the bottom of one big question: not whether parents are happy, but when are they happiest specifically?

Parenting spans multiple decades, and even then, the job isn’t done when kids are grown. Each phase, from infant to toddler to teen to adult child, brings its own joys and challenges. Parsing the data revealed a few fascinating insights.

According to the studies, including a 2016 paper in Developmental Psychology, happiness in parenting follows an interesting trajectory over the years, with two key standouts:

Of the thousands of parents polled, most were happiest during infancy and when their children became adults and no longer lived at home.

“The dip,” as........

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