Honestly, I don’t know how this can be true: The Los Angeles Times reports that a new study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health has found that parents, especially mothers, are more likely to live longer than couples without kids.
The study of more than 21,000 Danish couples found that mothers were four times as likely to be alive at the end of the study period compared to women without children. Father were twice as likely than men without kids to survive.
I dunno. The time my toddler climbed into the sink and turned on the hot water while I was in the other room changing the baby took a few years off my life alone.
People without children seem more well-preserved than those of us who have been repeatedly awakened in the middle of the night by offspring. And I’ve gotten up to let various teenagers in through the backdoor three times since I started writing this. In fact, I’ve planned my tombstone to read: “Here lies Jen Singer. Shhh. Don’t tell the kids.”
But the study found that mothers were 33% less likely to die compared to women who have never had kids. Adoptive fathers were 45% less likely to die.
Does this mean that parents will necessarily live longer than child-free people? Let’s consider a few other recent studies:
Study: 13-Year-Old Children Regularly Exchange Nude Photos on Cell Phones
Bounce houses pose safety concerns for children, study shows
Risk For Childhood Obesity Is Increased If Kids Have Bedroom TVs
Second Hand Smoking Generates Behavioral Problem in Kids Read
Youngest kids in class more likely to get ADHD drugs, study finds
Maybe parents live longer because, after surviving parenting, nothing much fazes us much?
