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Attention all individuals with one older sibling: You might want to reevaluate your next step.
The research was conducted on subjects in Denmark and Florida, finding results that were “remarkably similaracross the two locations” and taking into account “measures of infant and childhood health, parental investments, school quality and sibling composition,” according to the paper.
One interesting tidbit of information, the study found, is that “maternal employment and the use of daycare is higher for second-borns in years 2 to 4 compared to older siblings” — suggesting a longer amount of parent-to-child face time could contribute to a less trouble-making future.
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“While [first-borns have] undivided attention until the arrival of the second-born, these results showthat the arrival of the second-born childhas the potential to extend the early-childhood parental investment in the first-born child and a concomitant bifurcation of parental attention between first- and second-born children,” the study continues.
In an interview withNPR, MIT economist Joseph Doyle, one of the authors of the paper, said he found “the results to be remarkable that the second-born children, compared to their older siblings, are much more likely to end up in prison, much more likely to get suspended in school, enter juvenile delinquency.”
Brothers posing for a photo.Getty
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Another explanation? The constant presence of a younger, less mature “role model” for a second-born child — in their older sibling, as opposed to just their parents.
“The firstborn has role models, who are adults. Andthe second, later-born childrenhave role models who are slightly irrational 2-year-olds, you know, their older siblings,” Doyle told NPR.
“Both the parental investments are different, and the sibling influences probably contribute to these differences we see in labor market and what we find in delinquency. It’s just very difficult to separate those two things because they happen at the same time.”
source: people.com
