Childless and sonless in India: Implications for subjective well-being in mid- and older adulthood

With the global decline in fertility and increased life expectancy, the effects of childlessness on well-being in later adulthood have garnered significant attention. In patrilineal India, parenthood, particularly the birth of sons, confers emotional, economic, and social benefits. In contrast, daughters may offer limited benefits to parents in the form of economic and instrumental support due to practices such as patrilocal exogamy, the dowry system, and low rates of female labor force participation. Childless individuals may face stigma and receive limited intergenerational support. Given this context, the paucity of research on how childlessness and the gender composition of children affect subjective well-being in later life is noteworthy. Using data on 59,070 men and women from the nationally representative Longitudinal Ageing Study in India and adopting the life-course perspective, we examine associations between childlessness and the gender composition of children with depressive symptoms, life dissatisfaction, and self-rated health. Childlessness is associated with higher depressive symptoms among both men and women in mid- and later adulthood, and with greater life dissatisfaction among women. Not having sons is linked to higher depressive symptoms and life dissatisfaction among women across mid- and later adulthood, and to poorer self-rated health in later life for both genders. We also find that living arrangements and economic well-being are pathways through which childlessness and the gender composition of children affect parental well-being.