Effects of Siblings and Birth Order on Income Redistribution Preferences: Evidence Based on Japanese General Social Survey

Abstract

Experiences in childhood are hypothesized to influence preference formation for redistribution in adulthood. For example, eldest male children who suffer loss because of parental redistribution are less likely to endorse government-mandated redistributions as an adult. In contrast, younger children enjoy benefits from parental redistributions as a result of having a large number of older siblings. Younger children are therefore more likely to prefer redistribution. The Japanese General Social Survey was used to determine how individual preferences for income redistribution are affected by number of siblings and birth order. The important findings were as follows. (1) The first-born child was less likely to prefer income redistribution when the child was male. However, such a tendency was not observed when the child was female. (2) The larger the number of elder brothers, the more likely an individual preferred income redistribution. However, the number of elder sisters did not affect the preference. (3) The number of younger siblings did not affect the preference for redistribution regardless of the sibling’s sex.