Who is happier: Parents or non-parents? Social psychologists are moving past the simple yes-or-no question of whether kids make people happy, as studies have failed to find strong differences in happiness between parents and non-parents, Fox News reports. "Overall, there's not much difference between parents and non-parents, but when you start to take a more detailed approach, you see some differences emerge," said Katie Nelson, a doctoral candidate in psychology at the University of California, Riverside.

She and her colleagues find that becoming a parent at a later age is linked with happiness, as is (unsurprisingly) financial security.

Studies attempting to compare parents and non-parents have variously found that kids make people happier; that kids make people less satisfied with their marriages; that parents are less happy, but lie to themselves about it.

In a study published in the journal Psychological Science in January 2013, Nelson and her colleagues found that parents, on average, were just a smidge happier than non-parents. The results held when measured by how people evaluate their lives, how they feel on a day-to-day basis and by what they prefer to do with their time (parents get the most happiness out of caring for their kids, compared with other life activities).

But those happiness differences were small, so the researchers turned to past research to find out what makes the difference between a happy parent and a miserable one. They surveyed studies that compared parents and non-parents, studies that followed non-parents as they became parents, and studies that compared parents' happiness while parenting versus doing other activities.

The results published online Feb. 3 in the journal Psychological Bulletin, revealed that a happy marriage, secure bank account and good sleep make for happy moms and dads. Being young, single, having a child with behavioral or developmental problems or being the non-custodial parent are all linked to less parenting happiness though all parents, even young, single parents, reported more meaning and purpose in their lives compared with people without kids.