Sorry, younger siblings. When it comes to standard measures of success, such as academic performance and income, firstborns fare better. Why?
Stereotypes portray oldest children as responsible and younger children as rebellious – yet large-scale studies show no significant relationship between birth order and personality types. Recent research shows something completely different: germs.
The difference in success between older and younger siblings has been the subject of research for decades.
In 2005, a study of the Norwegian population found that younger siblings tend to drop out of school earlier than firstborns, regardless of family size and gender. Younger people, as adults, also earn less, and this difference widens with each subsequent child.
Younger sisters, on the other hand, are more likely to get pregnant in their teens.
A new publication by scientists from the US, China and Denmark provides interesting explanation.
Children often get sick, especially when they are very young. The authors wondered whether older children could act as vectors, exposing their parents and vulnerable infants to disease. Using Danish administrative data, the researchers concluded that younger siblings were two to three times more likely to be hospitalized due to severe respiratory diseases in the first year of life than older ones.
The effects of early health problems appear to persist. The disease can inhibit you brain development directly (causing inflammation) and indirectly (redirecting energy from organs to fight disease).
Sibling gap
The authors found a cause-and-effect relationship between early exposure to disease and lower earnings in adulthood. Other studies have shown that fever and respiratory illnesses during pregnancy can also affect fetal brain development.
Danish data suggests that illnesses may account for about half of the 1.9 percent wage gap between first-born and second-born children. Parental behavior may explain the rest.
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As younger siblings often complain, children are the first to receive more attention. American data on time use show that throughout childhood, they spend 20-30 minutes more quality time per day than other children of the same age.
Scientists believe that parents try to distribute their attention evenly among children at any given time – which means that firstborns receive more of it throughout childhood because subsequent children require a lot of care. For your oldest child, this may mean more stimulation to promote brain development during the crucial first years of life.
It turns out that younger siblings are not the only ones who complain.
I’m Ashley Davis as an editor, I’m committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity and accuracy in every piece we publish. My work is driven by curiosity, a passion for truth, and a belief that journalism plays a crucial role in shaping public discourse. I strive to tell stories that not only inform but also inspire action and conversation.
