The dip in the happiness u-curve during middle age might be less pronounced or absent in individuals who opt not to have children or work less.

“Because the argument was made in the discussion of those papers that the reason why happiness is lower when people are in their 30s, 40s, and 50s is because they're devoting more time to raising their children and devoting more time to work. I would hope people would enjoy their work, but not everybody really enjoys their work. And many people, even if they do enjoy their work and they find meaning in it, still find it stressful, which certainly can run counter to happiness. Nowadays, you could imagine that because a number of people are opting perhaps to work less or to not have children or both, where they find tremendous meaning from their work that there would be a bump at the bottom of that u among those that decided to simply not take on these additional responsibilities.”