From the Editor: Of dads and lads

I haven’t crunched the numbers, but I read something shocking recently – men live longer if they sire progeny than if they never procreate. Even more shocking, married men (with or without children) have a higher average life expectancy than single dads or lifelong, childless bachelors.

This reminds me of an old (dad?) joke:
Q: Why do single men die sooner than married ones?
A: Because they’re allowed to.
However:
Q: Why do dads live longer than childless chaps?
A: Because we have a damn good reason to.

Either way, I reckon we male parents get the better end of the deal in this respect.

There are other benefits for men without children – they are more likely to earn higher wages and be better educated. Could it be that better educated men are simply smart enough to know in advance just how damn tough a gig parenting can be? As for earning more, is that because they’re free to work evenings and weekends, concentrating on their careers?

Either way, whenever Saint Peter calls, I’d rather leave my heart to my child than to owe my soul to the company store.

Perhaps most interestingly is that men aligned to the political left are more likely to have children than those right of centre. The needle on this could be moved because parents are more likely to be concerned about others and the future state of the world we leave behind.

Does this also mean that those who lean right (on average and overall) couldn’t give a monkey’s about what happens when they shuffle off this mortal coil? No, but I’m not not saying that either!

It’s not conclusive if ‘undads’ have more fun than dads. If they’re also blonde, they almost certainly must, but the greatest joy surely comes from embarrassing kids in front of their mates.

All up, there are pros and cons to fatherhood, but the biggest smiles I’ve experienced have been inspired by just one person, the greatest person to have ever existed… except when she’s the world’s worst ratbag, of course.

There are plenty of funny or endearing quotes about dads, but this achieves both:

“A father carries pictures in his wallet where his money used to be.” – Steve Martin.

Money’s pretty darn useful but it’s not priceless.