A comprehensive study led by researchers from MIT, Northwestern University, and the University of Florida sheds light on the experiences of second-born children, particularly second-born boys.
The study reveals that second-born children, especially boys, are 20 to 40 percent more likely to encounter disciplinary issues in school and become involved in the criminal justice system compared to their first-born siblings.
MIT economist Joseph Doyle, one of the paper’s authors, expressed astonishment at the findings. He noted that second-born children, in contrast to their older siblings, show a significantly higher likelihood of facing issues like school suspensions, juvenile delinquency, and incarceration.
“We do find that parental time investment measured by time out of the labour force is higher for first-borns at ages 2-4, suggesting that the arrival of a second-born child extends early-childhood parental investments for first-borns,” he stated.
The research, conducted in Denmark and Florida, yielded remarkably similar results across both locations. It took various factors into account, including infant and childhood health, parental investments, school quality, and sibling composition.
One significant finding from the study was that maternal employment and the use of daycare services were more common for second-born children between the ages of two and four compared to their older siblings.
As the study explains, first-born children often receive undivided attention until the arrival of their younger siblings. However, the introduction of a second-born child can lead to an extension of parental investment in the first-born child, dividing parental attention between the two siblings.