Married with kids at 30 is fulfilling as a career, say experts

Being married with children by the time you are 30 is just as fulfilling as chasing a high-flying career, according to new research.

Having a degree of responsibility, such as owning your own home or raising a family, makes people happy, say scientists.

Therefore although many young people today focus on education and career, scientists say 'for some a sense of fulfilment and accomplishment may be just as well achieved through family life.'

The study of around 10,000 people found highly-educated go-getting career types were happier at the age of 30 than those who had not flown the nest.

But so were those who had already chosen to settle down with a partner and have a family, according to the study presented at the BA Festival in Norwich.

Lead researcher Professor Ingrid Schoon of City University said: 'These findings suggest there is more than one way to a fulfilled and happy life.'

For study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, each 30-year-old was asked to rate how satisfied they were with life by choosing a number between zero and 10. Overall most people opted for a figure around the seven or eight mark.

But when Prof Schoon broke down the findings she discovered there are four main routes into adulthood - career-oriented, traditional family unit, slow starters and disadvantaged families - and clear differences in happiness scores.

The two most satisfied groups were the traditional family units and career-focussed individuals. A traditional family was typically a married couple with one or two children where the man is the main breadwinner who own their own home.

The career types tended to have the most education, worked full-time and owned their home. Slow starters, who typically had no long-term partner, no children and did not own a home, were next on the happiness scale.

At the bottom were the disadvantaged family group, who tended to be less well-educated women living in rented accommodation. When they measured psychological stress, such as depression, those in traditional families or driven by career came out of it equally well.

Prof Schoon said: 'Those in traditional families and those opting for a career without children reported the highest levels of satisfaction and the least life stress.

'I was very surprised that traditional families had such good scores and slow starters had such relatively low scores.'

Recent report have found high house prices combined with college debts mean growing numbers of young people today are refusing to leave the nest.

These 'kidults' end up relying on their parents for financial help and often still live with their parents well into their twenties. But Prof Schoon said her study showed a very large proportion of young people today are still opting for the traditional family pattern. 'Young people in Britain are not rejecting traditional family forms,' she said.

She said traditional families are not necessarily the most privileged, as often it is a route chosen by those who cannot afford to go into higher education. 'Traditional families seem to be following the pathway the parents set them,' she said.

'They have got a good education and have invested in a home so have some financial security.'

Details of the study are contained in a new booklet by the ESRC, edited by Professor Mel Bartley of University College London. She said: 'Our research suggests that men and women pursuing a career and delaying parenthood are not more satisfied with their lives at age 30 than men and women already living as a two parent family.'

The booklet 'Capability and Resilience: Beating the odds' also contained new research which showed not all disadvantaged areas have equal ill-health.

Instead it found those deprived places with a strong community spirit and good housing can buck the trend and actually enjoy better health than others in similar towns without such strong social bonds.