Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent Is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think

Bryan Caplan

Basic Books, Apr 12, 2011 - Family & Relationships - 240 pages

We've needlessly turned parenting into an unpleasant chore. Parents invest more time and money in their kids than ever, but the shocking lesson of twin and adoption research is that upbringing is much less important than genetics in the long run. These revelations have surprising implications for how we parent and how we spend time with our kids. The big lesson: Mold your kids less and enjoy your life more. Your kids will still turn out fine. Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids is a book of practical big ideas. How can parents be happier? What can they change -- and what do they need to just accept? Which of their worries can parents safely forget? Above all, what is the right number of kids for you to have? You'll never see kids or parenthood the same way again.

Contents

• Introduction: 1
• A Commonsense Guide to Happier Parenting: 13
• A Parents Guide to Behavioral Genetics: 37
• Can It Be True and What Does It Mean?: 75
• 4 What ABOUT the Children? Kids Today Are Safer Than Ever: 93
• How Many Kids Do You Want When Youre Sixty?: 109
• 6 Your Kids Are Good for You But Are They Good for the World?: 123
• 7 Selfish Guidelines for WanttoBe Grandparents: 137
• What It Means for You: 147
• Four Chats on Kids Parenting Happiness and SelfInterest: 163
• Conclusion: 179
• Notes: 185
• Index: 217

About the author

Bryan Caplan is a professor of economics at George Mason University, a father of four, and a New York Times-bestselling author. His other works include The Myth of the Rational Voter, The Case Against Education, Open Borders, and Build, Baby, Build. Caplan runs the Bet on It Substack and has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. He lives in Oakton, Virginia. 

Bibliographic information

• Title: Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent Is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think
• Author: Bryan Caplan
• Publisher: Basic Books, 2011
• ISBN: 046502341X, 9780465023417
• Length: 240 pages
• Subjects: Family & Relationships / Life Stages / School Age; Family & Relationships / Parenting / General; Political Science / Political Ideologies / Libertarianism; Psychology / Developmental / Child; Social Science / Sociology / Marriage & Family