This study examines the relationship between childbearing, partnership and subjective well-being (SWB) in later life in Europe, utilizing international data from sixteen countries in Europe.

I address the question on whether and how parenthood and marital status are associated with various dimensions of elder’s SWB in a multi-country setting. I use the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and apply simple regression techniques controlling for country differences. Subjective well-being is measured by standardized questions on life satisfaction, quality of life (CASP-12) and depressive symptoms (Euro-d scale).

Main findings show that childless individuals do not generally fare worse than parents in terms of SWB. Conversely, having a partner appears to be systematically associated to elders’ SWB, sign of a ‘protective effect’ of marriage. However, these results depend, especially for mothers, on the country or residence. In particular, parenthood seems to have peculiar characteristics in different European countries, where being parent in southern and eastern Europe has a negative impact on SWB in later life.