422 Chapter 11in sexual satisfaction. If that were the case,
one would probably expect larger parent sta-
tus differences for men than women. Just the
opposite was the case.
The third explanation has to do with the
restriction on freedom associated with par-
enting and the role conflict that parenthood
brings. This explanation provides a good
fit for the data from the meta-analysis. The
finding that parenthood has more adverse
effects among higher SES families is consis-
tent with the restriction of freedom theory as
higher SES families would be more distressed
at having to give up the freedom that money
can buy (e.g., extensive travel and expensive
leisure activities). The finding that parent-
ing effects were stronger for women than
men, and especially in the case of women
with small children, also fits the restriction
of freedom and role conflict hypothesis.
Parenthood leads to greater changes in wom-
en’s than men’s roles as women take on more
of the responsibility associated with the par-
ent role. Child care is a greater restriction on
women’s than men’s freedom in the family.
The fact that the parenthood status findings
are larger in more recent years also fits with
the role conflict explanation as women face
more conflict in juggling family and work
roles today than ever before.
Part of the reason that women suffer
more role conflict than men with the arrival of
children is that the division of labor becomes
more traditional with the arrival of children
(Katz-Wise et al., 2010). Regardless of the
division of labor prior to the arrival of chil-
dren, women increase their contributions to
household tasks when they become parents.
This change may increase marital conflict and
decrease women’s marital satisfaction. When
fathers become involved in child care, there
seem to be fewer negative consequences for
marital satisfaction (Ozer et al., 1998).Effect of Parenthood on Marriage
A meta-analytic review of 90 studies revealed
that parents have lower levels of marital satis-
faction than nonparents (d 52 .19; Twenge,
Campbell, & Foster, 2003). The association
seems to be stronger for women (d 52 .19)
than men (d 52 .13). Marital satisfaction is
inversely related to the number of children
couples have, such that more children trans-
lates into lower marital satisfaction. There
are a number of variables that moderate the
relation of parenthood to marital satisfac-
tion. One is the age of the child—at least for
women. The difference in marital satisfaction
between women with infants and women
without children was large (d 52 .50),
whereas the difference between women with
older children and women without children
was small (d 52 .14). The age of the child
had no influence on the relation of parental
status to men’s marital satisfaction. In addi-
tion, the negative effects of parenthood on
marital satisfaction were stronger among
higher SES (socioeconomic status) couples
and higher in more recent years.
There are several explanations for the
association of parenthood to a decline in
marital satisfaction. First, there are economic
costs associated with children, which could
translate into financial problems in mar-
riages. However, if that were the primary
explanation, the parent status difference in
marital satisfaction would be smaller rather
than larger in high SES couples. One also
would have predicted the parent status dif-
ference in marital satisfaction to be higher
among couples with older children because
older children cost more money; as noted
earlier, this was not the case.
A second possibility is that the presence
of children contributes to a decline in op-
portunities for sex, which leads to a declineM11_HELG0185_04_SE_C11.indd 422 6/21/11 12:43 PM