How important is the birth order of children?
It is widely believed and indeed evidenced that first-born children are generally more successful educationally and professionally. I am a first-born of three and have a younger sister and a younger brother. Of course, this is anecdote and not evidence, but, while I was the first person in my family to go to university, in the end both my sister and my brother went on to exceed my academic achievements. On the other hand, we were not a typical family unit: we were brought up by a single parent, a foreign-born mother with little education and poor health.
A new study suggests that PFBs (precious first-borns) really do have advantages. As “Guardian” journalist Alexandra Topping put it:
“Research by the University of Edinburgh has found that first-born children have superior thinking skills to their younger siblings because they get more mental stimulation from their parents. While the study found that parents give all their children the same levels of emotional support, the first-born generally received more help with tasks that develop thinking skills.”
You can read a little more here.
What has your experience been as a child and/or parent?