Parenting is easier for those with partners, whether cohabiting or married, but married parents report the highest levels of happiness, according to a new report.

The report, ‘When Baby Makes Three, How Parenthood Makes Life Meaningful and How Marriage Makes Parenthood Bearable’, also found that married parents experience more meaning in their lives than their childless peers, and a substantial minority of married parents are “very happy” in their marriages.

The study by the Institute for American Values pointed out that research suggests that the arrival of a baby “is associated with declines in global happiness and marital satisfaction for many, and increases in depression for some, as women and men adjust to the sacrifices….that parenting calls forth”.

“Nevertheless, after a period of time, the immediate challenges presented by what has been called the ‘parental emergency’ may fade for many adults, and other factors besides parenthood may be more prominent in shaping their sense of well-being,” the study’s authors, Brad Wilcox and Elizabeth Marquardt, said.

One of those factors, they added, was marriage. According to the study marriage was more important for happiness than parenthood for both men and women aged between 18-46,.

Married women, whether parents or not, had a 50pc likelihood of being happy, compared to 22pc for their cohabiting, non-parental peers.

Cohabiting mothers had a 39pc chance of being happy, compared to single mothers, who had a 25pc chance of being happy. Single women who were not parents had a 27pc chance of being happy.

The figures also showed that married men, whether parents or not, had a better chance at being happy compared to their unmarried peers.

Married men, whether fathers or not, had a 39pc chance of being happy, while their cohabiting, non-parental peers had a 24pc chance of being happy. 

Cohabiting men who are parents and single men both had a 25pc chance of being happy. Single fathers had only 13pc chance of being happy, according to the figures

The study said: “These findings suggest that the meaning, social support, financial security, and stability afforded by marriage, and to some extent cohabitation as well, make life more enjoyable for today’s parents, especially in comparison to their single peers who are parents.

According to the study, the happiest married parents have four or more kids; they are about as happy as married couples with no children.

“It appears that particular types of couples end up having large numbers of children, remain married to one another, and also enjoy cultural, social, and relational strengths that more than offset the challenges of parenting a large family,” the authors noted.