Happy parents make successful parents regardless of income

Happy parents make for successful parents according to researchers in Bristol.

When parents find ways of improving their own wellbeing, their parenting improves and money has nothing to do with it.

Scientists at the University of Bristol and the University of Warwick found that though money is important, it is not key when it comes to successfully raising children.

Using data from the Bristol based Children of the 90s study, researchers looked at which factors influenced parenting in the early years.

Researcher Professor Sarah Stewart-Brown from Warwick University said, “When mums reported that their wellbeing had declined their parenting had also taken a turn for the worse.”

“When we looked at poverty we did not find that parents whose financial circumstances improved were parenting in a more beneficial way when their children were 33 months old.”

Dr Andrea Waylen, from the University of Bristol added, “Poverty is obviously a key issue that already attracts a great deal of research and a raft of policy interventions – and rightly so. However, there is much less concern for parent’s mental health.

“Policies are needed to address both issues but our research suggests that the gain for children from policies to support parent’s mental health is likely to be of more benefit to children.”