Married people (43% very happy) are a good bit happier than unmarrieds (24%) and this has been a consistent finding over the years. It holds up for men as well as for women, and for the old as well as the young, though the marriage gap in happiness is not quite as great among the old. Overall, parents are happier than adults who have no children, but this gap disappears once a person’s marital status is considered. That is, married people with children are about as happy as married people without children. And unmarried people with children are about as happy as unmarried people without children. Read More

Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.