Kids don’t always make you happier. Here’s why people have them anyway. | Paul Bloom

This interview is an episode from The Well, our new publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the John Templeton Foundation. Subscribe to The Well on YouTube ► Up Next ► Why you should want to suffer — just a little bit We have a biological impulse to produce and nurture children. But the negatives of having children are obvious: cost, anxiety, sleepless nights. Research even shows that children don’t make our lives happier, overall. So, why do we continue to have them? The answer may be about something far deeper than happiness: meaning. Parents tend to report having more meaningful lives than non-parents. Indeed, very few parents regret having children. Read the video transcript ► ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Paul Bloom: Paul Bloom is the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor of Psychology at Yale University. An internationally recognized expert on the psychology of child development, social reasoning, and morality, he has won numerous awards for his research, writing, and teaching. Bloom’s previous books include Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil and How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like, and he has written for Science, Nature, The New York Times, and The New Yorker. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read more of our stories on happiness: Epicurus and the atheist’s guide to happiness ► How to measure happiness: hedonia vs. eudaimonia ► Happiness and why “happily ever after” is a myth ► ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Big Think | Smarter Faster™ ► Big Think The leading source of expert-driven, educational content. With thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, Big Think helps you get smarter, faster by exploring the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century. ► Big Think Make your business smarter, faster: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Want more Big Think? ► Daily editorial features: ► Get the best of Big Think right to your inbox: ► Facebook: ► Instagram: ► Twitter: