Good family and partner relationships are Germany often associated with greater life satisfaction . This is shown by the Wellbeing Monitor presented on 11 November 2026 by the Federal Institute for Population Research. It suggests that people’s assessment of their own lives depends not only on their living arrangements, but also on how they experience their relationships.
Among people aged 21 to 53, couples without children in the household scored an average of 7.5 out of a possible ten points. Couples with children in the household were close behind, at 7.4 points. People without a partner and without children scored 6.5 points, single parents while single parents scored 6.4. These figures are averages and do not indicate how satisfied individual people in these living arrangements are.
According to the analysis, the lower satisfaction among single parents is primarily related to their circumstances. These include income, education and employment status. Co-author Pauline Kleinschlömer stressed that single parents are not less satisfied simply because of their family structure. The gap between the groups cannot therefore be interpreted simply as a consequence of living with or without a partner.
Relationship quality also makes a difference among couples. Couples who often argue about important everyday matters reported lower life satisfaction than couples without such conflicts. The association was particularly pronounced for arguments about leisure time and finances. According to the institute, people who were satisfied with their relationship or with being single also more often reported high overall life satisfaction.
For its analysis, the institute used several representative datasets, including the family-demographic panel FReDA, the European survey SHARE and a survey of Ukrainian refugees. Most of the findings are based on data from 2024, with others based on data from 2025. The study describes associations; it cannot, without further evidence, establish that a particular living arrangement or number of children causes greater satisfaction.
Among older respondents, the number of children was associated with life satisfaction: the proportion of people who were very satisfied was 28 per cent among those without children and 48 per cent among those with five or more children. Older people who regularly looked after grandchildren rated their lives at an average of 8.2 points. Among respondents who did not have or look after grandchildren, the figure was 7.8 points in each group. These differences alone do not establish cause and effect either.
The institute sees this as a reason for social and family policy to take social relationships more fully into account when assessing societal wellbeing. Balancing family and working life, supporting single parents and fostering exchange between generations are important conditions. The institute’s director, Katharina Spieß, called for support for strong relationships without favouring particular ways of life.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).