In response to your [1], studies looking also at other countries than the US, like this one [5], have found that the "parents are less happy than others" result

In response to your [1], studies looking also at other countries than the US, like this one [5], have found that the "parents are less happy than others" result is entirely explained by the lack of social policies in the US that most other first-world countries have. For the record, I'm not saying it's wrong of anyone to choose not to have children. As with all things in life, people are different. "Most people" want kids, but that's necessitated by the anthropic principle: if it were not so, the human race would be extinct. https://contemporaryfamilies.org/brief-parenting-happiness/ https://contemporaryfamilies.org/brief-parenting-happiness/