Effect Of Sibship Size Research Articles

Impact of Sibship Size, Birth Order and Sex Composition on School Enrolment in Urban Turkey*

AbstractThis paper investigates, in a unified framework, the effects of sibship size, birth order and sibling sex composition on children's school enrolment in urban Turkey. We utilize an instrumental variable estimation method to address parents’ joint fertility and schooling decisions using twin births as instruments. We find no causal impact of sibship size on school enrolment. However, there is evidence for a parabolic impact of birth order where middle‐born children fare worse. Sex composition of siblings matters only for female children. Our finding that birth order and sibling sex composition matter more for poorer households suggests that scarce financial resources play an important role in bringing about the sibling composition effects.

Sibship size and educational attainment. A joint test of the Confluence Model and the Resource Dilution Hypothesis

Studies on family background often explain the negative effect of sibship size on educational attainment by one of two theories: the Confluence Model (CM) or the Resource Dilution Hypothesis (RDH). However, as both theories – for substantively different reasons – predict that sibship size should have a negative effect on educational attainment most studies cannot distinguish empirically between the CM and the RDH. In this paper, I use the different theoretical predictions in the CM and RDH on the role of cognitive ability as a partial or complete mediator of the effect of sibship size to distinguish the two theories and to identify a unique RDH effect on educational attainment. Using sibling data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) and a random effect Instrumental Variable model I find that, in addition to a negative effect on cognitive ability, sibship size also has a strong negative effect on educational attainment which is uniquely explained by the RDH.

Meet the Parents? The Causal Effect of Family Size on the Geographic Distance between Adult Children and Older Parents

An emerging question in demographic economics is whether there is a link between family size and the geographic distance between adult children and elderly parents. Given current population trends, understanding how different configurations of family size and sibship influence patterns of child-parent proximity is vitally important, as it impacts on issues such as intergenerational care and everyday mobility. It may be the case, for example, that larger families enable the responsibility of care for older parents to be shared among more siblings, possibly decreasing individual involvement and relaxing constraints on geographic mobility. However, there is no causal evidence to date on this issue. This study is the first attempt to estimate the causal effect of sibship size on the geographic distance between older parents and adult children by using a large administrative data set from Sweden. We find a positive association between sibship size and child-parent geographic distance. However, when we use multiple births and sibship sex composition as instruments for family size, we do not find any evidence that the observed positive relationship represents a causal effect. Given that family sizes are continuing to fall in many developed countries, our findings suggest that the trend towards smaller families will not necessarily result in adult children being more constrained in terms of their geographic location decisions, at least in countries with extensive state-provision of elderly care.

Meet the Parents? The Causal Effect of Family Size on the Geographic Distance Between Adult Children and Older Parents

An emerging question in demographic economics is whether there is a link between family size and the geographic distance between adult children and elderly parents. Given current population trends, understanding how different configurations of fam- ily size and sibship influence patterns of child-parent proximity is vitally important, as it impacts on issues such as intergenerational care and everyday mobility. It may be the case, for example, that larger families enable the responsibility of care for older parents to be shared among more siblings, possibly decreasing individual involvement and relaxing constraints on geographic mobility. However, there is no causal evidence to date on this issue. This study is the first attempt to estimate the causal effect of sibship size on the geographic distance between older parents and adult children by using a large administrative data set from Sweden. We find a positive association between sibship size and child-parent geographic distance. However, when we use multiple births and sibship sex composition as instruments for family size, we do not find any evidence that the observed positive relationship represents a causal effect. Given that family sizes are continuing to fall in many developed countries, our findings suggest that the trend towards smaller families will not necessarily result in adult children being more constrained in terms of their geographic location decisions, at least in countries with extensive state-provision of elderly care.

The Effect of Sibship Size on Educational Attainment in China: Period Variations

In industrialized nations, sibship size generally depresses educational attainment: the larger the number of siblings, the lower the educational attainment. This association is much less consistent in developing nations, however. This article examines the effect that the number of siblings has on educational attainment in China, a nation that has experienced sharp vacillations between policies designed to promote equality (between urban and rural residents and between men and women) and policies designed to promote economic development. The implementation of these policies in the educational arena has alternately reduced and increased competition for educational resources and, as we show, has correspondingly reduced and increased the effect of sibship size on educational attainment.

Sibship Size and Educational Achievement: The Role of Welfare Regimes Cross‐Nationally

Previous articleNext article No AccessSibship Size and Educational Achievement: The Role of Welfare Regimes Cross‐NationallyJun XuJun Xu Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Comparative Education Review Volume 52, Number 3August 2008 Sponsored by the Comparative and International Education Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/588761 Views: 129Total views on this site Citations: 21Citations are reported from Crossref History © 2008 by the Comparative and International Education Society. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Miguel Requena Birth order, sibling size and educational attainment in twentieth century Spain, The History of the Family 22 (Oct 2022): 1–31.https://doi.org/10.1080/1081602X.2022.2135562Asmaa Wafeeq Abdelaziz, Reham Ibrahim Abdelmageed An overview of non-genetic intellectual disability among Egyptian children and adolescents, Children and Youth Services Review 127 (Aug 2021): 106068.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106068Shuang Chen Parental Investment After the Birth of a Sibling: The Effect of Family Size in Low-Fertility China, Demography 57, no.66 (Oct 2020): 2085–2111.https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-020-00931-2Seongsoo Choi, Riley Taiji, Manting Chen, Christiaan Monden Cohort Trends in the Association Between Sibship Size and Educational Attainment in 26 Low-Fertility Countries, Demography 57, no.33 (Jun 2020): 1035–1062.https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-020-00885-5Cristian Bortes, Mattias Strandh, Karina Nilsson Sibling Ill Health and Children's Educational Outcomes, Journal of School Health 90, no.55 (May 2020): 407–414.https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12887Stefan Öberg A Critical Introduction to Instrumental Variables for Sibship Size Based on Twin Births, (Feb 2019): 55–82.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99480-2_4Linda Wänström, Bertil Wegmann Effects of sibship size on intelligence, school performance and adult income: Some evidence from Swedish data, Intelligence 62 (May 2017): 1–11.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2017.01.004Anna Baranowska-Rataj, Kieron Barclay, Martin Kolk The effect of number of siblings on adult mortality: Evidence from Swedish registers for cohorts born between 1938 and 1972, Population Studies 71, no.11 (Feb 2017): 43–63.https://doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2016.1260755Rania Tfaily Gender, Sibship Composition, and Education in Egypt, Comparative Education Review 60, no.33 (Jun 2016): 480–500.https://doi.org/10.1086/687204Anna Baranowska-Rataj, Xavier de Luna, Anneli Ivarsson Does the number of siblings affect health in midlife? Evidence from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register, Demographic Research 35 (Nov 2016): 1259–1302.https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2016.35.43Kristian Stoye Normalfamilie im Wandel, (Nov 2015): 207–238.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-10986-8_9Soo-yong Byun, Adrienne Henck, and David Post Cross-National Variations in Student Employment and Academic Performance: The Roles of National Context and International Law, Comparative Education Review 58, no.44 (Jun 2015): 621–652.https://doi.org/10.1086/677143Eduardo Andere M. Introduction, (Dec 2013): 1–17.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02824-8_1Gillian Hampden-Thompson Family policy, family structure, and children’s educational achievement, Social Science Research 42, no.33 (May 2013): 804–817.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2013.01.005Jun Xu and Gillian Hampden-Thompson Cultural Reproduction, Cultural Mobility, Cultural Resources, or Trivial Effect? A Comparative Approach to Cultural Capital and Educational Performance, Comparative Education Review 56, no.11 (Jul 2015): 98–124.https://doi.org/10.1086/661289Hilde Bras, Jan Kok, Kees Mandemakers Sibship size and status attainment across contexts: Evidence from the Netherlands, 1840-1925, Demographic Research 23 (Jul 2010): 73–104.https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2010.23.4Petter Kristensen, Tor Bjerkedal Educational attainment of 25year old Norwegians according to birth order and gender, Intelligence 38, no.11 (Jan 2010): 123–136.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2009.08.003Soo-yong Byun, Kyung-keun Kim Educational inequality in South Korea: The widening socioeconomic gap in student achievement, (Mar 2015): 155–182.https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3539(2010)0000017008PETTER KRISTENSEN, HANS M. GRAVSETH, TOR BJERKEDAL EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT OF NORWEGIAN MEN: INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL AND EARLY INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS, Journal of Biosocial Science 41, no.66 (Aug 2009): 799–814.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021932009990228Yongmin Sun, Yuanzhang Li Parental divorce, sibship size, family resources, and children’s academic performance, Social Science Research 38, no.33 (Sep 2009): 622–634.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2009.03.007Юлия Черткова Влияние фактора наличия сиблингов на когнитивное развитие близнецов, Психологические исследования 2, no.33 (Feb 2009).https://doi.org/10.54359/ps.v2i3.1003

Public policy and the effect of sibship size on educational achievement: A comparative study of 20 countries

Using international data on educational achievement among 15-year-olds in 20 OECD countries, I compare the effect of sibship size on reading literacy and link the cross-national variation in the sibship-size effect to differences in national contexts of public policies for families and children. Comparisons highlight significant cross-national variation in the level of public policies, even among countries ordinarily thought to belong to the same welfare regime. Deviating from previous literature that focused on overall differences across welfare regimes, I explore the way in which specific public policy variables, rather than categorical regimes, mediate the relationship between sibship size and educational achievement. The results of two-level hierarchical linear models show that countries with stronger public support for childcare, universal child benefits, larger public expenditures on education and family, show a much less negative effect of growing up in large families. Moreover, these policy variables explain a large part of the better performance of social democratic countries in reducing the negative effect of sibship size.

The Effects of Parental Age and Sibling Configurations on Family Environment and Academic Achievement of Children

In this study, we draw from the literature on sibling configurations and parental age to investigate the effects of these factors on the academic achievement of children. The study investigates the effects of maternal age at first birth, maternal age when the respondent was born, and father's age when the respondent was born on ACT scores, grade point averages over three years, and whether or not the parents are providing financial aid to their students. We examine the effects of sibship size, ordinal position, and gender composition of the sibship on these same variables. The study also investigates the extent to which the relationship between parental age and academic outcomes is linear. The relationship of sibship size, ordinal position, and gender composition on the quality of relationships with parents is investigated. Using a sample of freshmen at a mid-western university, we find consistent positive effects of parental age on high school and early college achievement, as well as consistent negative birth order effects on achievement at the high school level. Students with older parents and fewer older siblings consistently performed better. Sibship size and the proportion of females in the sibship had no effect on academic outcomes. Using self-reported data from children on a childhood measure of parental support and interaction and quality of relationships with parents during late adolescence, we also investigate the impact of parental age at birth, and sibling characteristics on childhood and adolescent family environment. Ordinal position had a significant positive effect on the quality of relationships with parents during adolescence, and sibship size had a significant negative effect. We find a curvilinear effect for paternal age on childhood support and parental involvement, but not for academic achievement or quality of relationships with parents in late adolescence. Parental education had a positive significant impact on childhood support and involvement. Children from larger sibships and who were later born children were less likely to receive financial aid from their parents. The results are discussed as they relate to the literature on parental age and sibling configurations, and in terms of their implications for student retention and success.

The Flynn effect is partly caused by changing fertility patterns

The present study investigates the impact of changing fertility patterns on the Flynn effect. Intelligence test data comprised scores of army conscripts on an arithmetic, language and a Raven-similar test, and a composite score (General Ability). Family data of the conscripts enabled a decomposition of the population mean into effects of sibship size on the mean intelligence and the proportion of the persons comprising the various sibship sizes within each of 13 birth cohort groups (each comprising 3 birth years). Both the means within each sibship and the proportions of the different sibship sizes varied across cohorts. Estimated changes in means due to changing proportions of sibship sizes alone were calculated by fixing the mean intelligence test score within the different sibship sizes at the level of the oldest birth cohort (1938–1940) and letting the proportions of the different sibship sizes take their empirical values in each of the subsequent 12 three-year cohort groups. It is concluded that changing proportions of sibship sizes had a moderate effect both on General Ability and the subtest scores, and that most of the changes were connected to changing sibship means across cohorts.

Episodic Memory in Adult Age and Effects of Sibship Size and Birth Order: Longitudinal Data

This study examined the effects of sibship size and birth order on episodic memory performance in adulthood and old age. Participants were 1,141 healthy individuals aged 35–80 years, who took part in a longitudinal project on age, health, and memory. Episodic memory measurements over a 5-year interval included tests of recognition (recognition of faces, family names, first names, and nouns) and tests of recall (free recall of sentences, free recall and cued recall of nouns, and recall of activities). Results showed significant effects for both recall and recognition, that is, the smaller the sibship size is for an individual and the earlier born, the better memory performance. These results demonstrate that the effects of sibship size and birth order previously shown in children and adolescents (Belmont and Marolla, Science 182:1096–1101, 1973; Zajonc and Markus, Psych Rev 82:74–88, 1975; Zajonc, Am Psychol 56:490–496, 2001) are robust over time and hold over a large adult range.

Effects of Sibship Structure Revisited: Evidence from Intrafamily Resource Transfer in Taiwan

Numerous studies have consistently found negative effects of sibship size on educational outcomes. Three main explanations of these effects have been offered in the literature: (1) the dilution of family resources, (2) a changing intellectual environment in the family for each succeeding sibling, and (3) unobserved selectivity at the family level. In this article, the authors propose a fourth explanation as an extension of the resource-dilution hypothesis: In a traditional or transitional society where resources from all family members are pooled together, families may sacrifice the educational opportunities of older (female) siblings and use their remittance to compensate the family expenses, particularly when there are younger siblings. With analyses of data from the Panel Study of Family Dynamics (PSFD), the authors found empirical evidence to support this explanation. In particular, they found that the negative effects of sibship size are the strongest for girls with younger brothers and sisters who are spaced apart from them. They interpret this unusual high-order interaction involving sibship size, gender, density, and seniority within the context of Taiwan's patriarchal culture, in which families typically favor boys over girls.

Intelligence and executive functioning in adult age: Effects of sibship size and birth order

Several studies have demonstrated that social influences from having been brought up in a family with few siblings and early in birth order result in higher scores on intelligence tests in childhood and adolescence as compared to having been brought up in large sibships. The present study examined whether influences of such social factors would have long-lasting effects on intelligence (block design and word comprehension) and executive functions (working memory and verbal fluency) in adulthood and old age, i.e., long after the individuals had moved out of the family structure they were born in. After having controlled for socioeconomic status and a variety of health conditions affecting cognition in adult life, a sibship size effect was demonstrated for executive functions but not for intelligence. The social influences of birth order affected only executive functions and working memory in particular; earlier born individuals performed better than later born individuals in tests assessing executive function but not in tests assessing intelligence. Implications for the relationship between executive functioning and intelligence, and implications for the Confluence and Resource Dilution Models (Blake, 1981; Downey, 1995, 2001; Zajonc, 1976) are discussed.

Parental Educational Investment and Children’s Academic Risk

This study uses exogenous variation in sibling sex composition to estimate the causal effect of sibship size on boys’ probabilities of private school attendance and grade retention. Using the 1990 U.S. Census, we find that for second-born boys, increased sibship size reduces the likelihood of private school attendance by six percentage points and increases grade retention by almost one percentage point. Sibship size has no effect for first-born boys. Instrumental variable estimates are largely consistent across racial groups, although the standard errors are larger for nonwhites as they have smaller sample sizes and this renders them insignificant at traditional alpha levels.

All My Children

In this research, we investigate how children shape maternal marital happiness. The findings reveal that the otherwise negative effects of sibship size are altered by the gender composition of the sibling group. Having sons tends to reduce the negative impact of sibling group size. Solving for main effects in the interactions that include sibship size by the gender composition of the sibling group, we find that having all sons affords the most beneficial consequences for marital happiness. The daughter-only groups have nonsignificant effects, and the mixed-gender sibships have the most deleterious influence on maternal marital happiness. Within a subsample of mixed-gender sibships only, we further find that mothers who have more boys than girls are more likely to report higher marital gratification. Generally speaking, our research demonstrates the need to examine both main and interaction effects of family structure on marital happiness.

Patterns of infection and day care utilization and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

To investigate if decreased exposure to common childhood infections is associated with risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) we conducted a case–control study of 1842 newly diagnosed and immunophenotypically defined cases of ALL under age 15, and 1986 matched controls in the US. Data regarding day care, sibship size and common childhood infections were obtained through parental interviews. Data were analysed stratified by leukaemia lineage and separately for ‘common’ childhood ALL (age 2–5 years, CD19, CD10-positive). Neither attendance at day care nor time at day care was associated with risk of ALL overall or ‘common’ ALL. Ear infections during infancy were less common among cases, with odds ratios of 0.86, 0.83, 0.71 and 0.69 for 1, 2–4, 5+ episodes, and continuous infections respectively (trend P = 0.026). No effect of sibship size or birth interval was seen. With one exception (ear infections), these data do not support the hypothesis that a decrease in the occurrence of common childhood infection increases risk of ALL. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaign

Sibship Size and Intellectual Development: Is the Relationship Causal?

In this study we test the alternative interpretation of the effect of sibship size on childs intellectual development through sibling analysis and analysis of repeated measures of the same individuals. Both analyses are variations of change models or fixed-effects models. Change models enable us to control permanent family effects including family socioeconomic status (SES) family genetic makeup and intellectual atmosphere in the home by `differencing them out. Thus we can determine if and how much the sibship-size effect is confounded by other family influences that are difficult or impossible to control in conventional regression analysis. The data are from the [U.S.] National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Also included are comments by Meredith Phillips (pp. 188-92) and D. B. Downey B. Powell L. C. Steelman and S. Pribesh (pp. 193-98) and a reply by Guo and VanWey (pp. 199-206). (EXCERPT)

Is the relationship between fertility of parents and children really weak?

The relationship between fertility of parents and children has been designated as "weak" by most investigators. This paper reviews the evidence over the past century and argues that, even allowing for problems with available data sources, the relationship was probably close to zero for pre-transitional populations. However, over time, the relationship has tended to become more substantial and is now of a similar order of magnitude in developed countries as other widely used explanatory variables. Possible mechanisms for the observed relationship are discussed, especially the roles of socialization and inherited factors. The types of data used are compared to the scientific questions posed, and the limitations of the common comparison of married-mother/married-daughter pairs are considered. Finally, some evidence from recent large-scale surveys in Britain and the United States is presented to show changes over recent periods and the relative effects of sibship size of fathers and mothers.

Accumulation of atopic disorders within families: a sibling effect only in the offspring of atopic fathers.

Several studies have reported an association between a child's risk of atopic disorders and family size. However, the inverse association might not be the same in populations with a different genetic disposition for atopic disorders. This longitudinal study was designed to assess risk factors of atopy. Lifetime prevalence of asthma, hay fever and eczema of 1440 families including 3165 offspring was ascertained by means of standardized questionnaires. After possible confounders had been controlled for, an inverse association between atopic disorders and the number of older siblings was found only in the offspring of atopic fathers (trend for older siblings: chi2 = 13.38, degrees of freedom [d.f.] = 1, P= 0.0002; odds ratio 'no older sibling'= 2.87 (95% confidence interval 2.18-3.78); '1 older sibling' = 2.11 [1.52-2.92], '2 older siblings' = 1.29 [0.74-2.23]; '3 or more older siblings' = 0. 15 [0.02-0.981). No such relationship was found for children without a history of paternal atopy (trend for older siblings: chi2 = 1.5 1, d.f. = 1, P = 0.22; odds ratio 'no older sibling' = 1 [reference]; '1 older sibling' =0.82 [0.63-1.06]; '2 older siblings' = 0.97 [0.67-1.40]; '3 or more older siblings' = 0.64 [0.31-1.33]). The trend for older siblings in the case of paternal atopy was significantly different from the trend for older siblings without a history of paternal atopy (chi2 = 8.68, d.f. = 1, P = 0.003). The number of younger siblings was not related to child's risk of atopy (trend for younger siblings: chi2 = 0.001, d.f. = 1, P = 0.97). Data from this study suggest a protective effect of sibship size only in children with a history of paternal atopy and if older siblings are present. The reason for this combined effect remains unclear. Thus, further investigations are needed to interpret the biological cause of the so called 'sibling effect'.

Sibship Size and Educational Attainment in Peninsular Malaysia: Do Policies Matter?

The Second Malaysian Family Life Survey is used to explore one of the most important components of interfamily inequality of school attainment: Sibship size. The survey data document the differences in the effects of sibship size on children's secondary school attainment among Malaysia's three ethnic communities. They also show the response of the sibship size effect to public policies targeting the ethnic Malay population. Three broad questions can be addressed using the available data: First, how important is sibship size as a determinant of educational attainment, ceteris paribus, within the Malay and nonMalay populations? Second, how have the effects of sibship size changed over time? Third, are there ethnic differences in any such changes, differences that could be interpreted in light of the government's regulation of school supply and employment opportunities for each group? Addressing these questions in the case of Malaysia illuminates the extent to which public policy more generally can alter the effect of sibship size on educational attainment. The findings indicate that restrictions on family size by each of Malaysia's ethnic groups were a rational attempt by parents to compensate for constraints on their ability to invest in their children's education.

Family structure, neonatal infection, and hay fever in adolescence.

To determine whether increased numbers of siblings and infection in early life protect against allergic sensitisation. Historical cohort study. Sheffield, UK. 11,765 children aged 11-16 years for whom a history of neonatal infectious illness had been recorded systematically at 1 month of age. A history of hay fever and family structure was obtained by postal questionnaire; neonatal illness history was ascertained from health visitor records; 723 children underwent skin prick testing with mixed grass pollen extract. The prevalence of hay fever was reduced (p < 0.0001) among children of younger mothers, and those from larger families. The number of older siblings exerted a stronger independent effect than the number of younger siblings (p < 0.001). Infants breast fed exclusively during the first month were at higher risk (p < 0.05) of subsequent hay fever, independent of demographic factors. Adolescents at high risk of hay fever by virtue of their family structure were more likely to be sensitised to grass pollen (p < 0.002). No significant relations emerged between hay fever and infection in the first month of life, even among children born in June. The association of hay fever with family structure is not due to reporting bias and reflects an environmental influence on allergic sensitisation. The effects of sibship size, birth order, and infant feeding are consistent with a protective influence of postnatal infection. The first month of life and the first postnatal exposure to allergen are not the critical periods during which this protective effect is determined.