The Effects of Family Structure on the Educational Attainment of Siblings in Hungary

Abstract

In this article we examine the impact of family structure on educational attainment in Hungary. Using a data-set collected in 1983 with information on all siblings of 17146 primary respondents, the effects of family size, birth order, and spacing were investigated. Hypotheses on these effects were based on sibling resource-dilution theory, which was modified for the case of Hungary, where educational policy has weakened the effects of parents' material resources. In a country in which cultural resources are predominant, resource-dilution theory offers different predictions. As expected, family size had a substantial negative effect on schooling. This effect increased over birth cohorts. The effect of birth order was curvilinear: in larger families the oldest and youngest siblings attained the highest educational qualifications. Effects of spacing were significant, indicating that close spacing affects schooling positively. The results corroborate sibling resource-dilution theory INTRODUCTION

Do birth order, family size and gender affect arithmetic achievement in elementary school?

“…Analyses on whether oldest and youngest children did better than middle born children, as suggested by Van Eijck and De Graaf (1995), revealed an inverse profile. In families with three and five or more children, middle children did better than oldest and youngest children.…”

“…Several researchers have claimed that being first-born confers a significant educational advantage that persists when considering earnings (Black et al, 2005;Hertwig, Davis, & Sulloway, 2002;Kantarevic & Mechoulan, 2006;Paulhus, Trapnell, & Chen, 1999;Sulloway, 1996;Van Eijck & De Graaf, 1995;Zajonc, 2001). The study of Van Eijck and De Graaf (1995) reveals that oldest and youngest children do better at school compared with their brothers and sisters.…”

“…The study of Van Eijck and De Graaf (1995) reveals that oldest and youngest children do better at school compared with their brothers and sisters. Also Hertwig et al (2002) expects the same pattern.…”

Predictors of mathematics achievement of migrant children in Chinese urban schools: A comparative study

“…Lack of preparation for elementary education in pre-school in urban India was found to be the main obstacle for migrated children (Tsujita, 2013). In terms of sibling numbers, it has been found to have a negative association with the educational attainment of students in European countries (Van Eijck and de Graaf, 1995), indicating that households with fewer siblings appear to be advantaged in many aspects of school performance (Lu, 2007;Siegler et al, 2012). However, these variables have not been examined together in relation to the mathematics achievement of migrant children in the Chinese context that required further investigation.…”

Az ikerhelyzettel járó pozitívumok és nehézségek

“…Ilyen az a vita is, hogy a testvérek megléte, illetve száma milyen hatást gyakorol a gyerekek tanulmányi eredményére, illetve szociális képességeire: inkább az erőforrások "felhígulását" okozza-e a (több) testvér megléte, vagy pedig éppen hogy sajátos erőforrásként szolgál (Downey-Condron 2004). Itt különösen érdekes lehet egy éppen magyarországi adatokkal dolgozó munka, amelyben a holland kutatók azt találták a nyolcvanas évekre vonatkozóan, hogy nálunk a nagyobb család a gyerekek tanulási lehetőségeinek szűkülésével jár -ez tehát az erőforrás-felhígulási elméletet támasztja alá -, de az egymáshoz korban közel álló testvérek esetén növekszik az átlagos iskolázottsági szint (Van Eijck-de Graaf 1995). Mivel ikrek esetén a lehető legkisebb ez a korkülönbség, itt pozitív hatást kell feltételeznünk.…”