Very Unattached

This is a fun article to read about the never married women with no kids being the happiest. Perhaps a few other factors come into play in the level of happiness - a great friend group, supporting community, some kids to mentor and financial independence. When a women in the referenced demographic has these parameters in place, she could indeed be happier than her married counterparts. My childhood role-model who has been a lifelong influence was such a woman herself and so is my best friend. 

They do have it all and can be the object of societal envy for getting a "free ride" so to speak. They enjoy the benefits of motherhood by playing a nurturing, mentoring role to many kids they come into contact with. Yet they do not have to deal with the day to day struggles of raising a child, friction with their spouse over how best to do so. They have freedom to live a life of their choosing on their own schedule. 

As a result they have enriching life experiences that women in a married with kids setting simply could not have. They can choose to become wise or remain forever young and wonder-struck because they can control the pace at which they live their lives and they environment they expose themselves to.