First Born Daughters Are Most Likely to Succeed According to Research

If you are female and the first born in the family then you are the one who is most likely to succeed, according to new research.

Researchers have claimed that if you are female and the eldest child among your siblings then you are likely to be more ambitious. Angela Merkel, Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, JK Rowling and Beyoncé are all firstborn children.

They are also according to Forbes among the most powerful women in the world.

The study was carried out by researchers at the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex. It found that if a child is the eldest female then she is most likely to be the most ambitious and  well-qualified of all of her family.

Firstborn boys were next in line for success. The study also found that parents were more likely to have high achieving children if they leave a gap of at least four years between each child. The wider the gap, the greater the chances of higher qualifications.

Even taking into account parents' education and professional status, the study found firstborn children were 7% more likely to aspire to stay on in education than younger siblings. Firstborn girls were 13% more ambitious than firstborn boys. The probability of attending further education for firstborns is 16% higher than their younger siblings. Girls are 4% more likely to have further education qualifications.

"There are several possible explanations for the higher attainment and ambition of the eldest," said Bu. "It could be that the parents simply devote more time and energy to them – it could be they are actually more intelligent. For me, I tend to lean towards the theory that parental investment is possibly at work here.

"And I would say that the larger the age gap between the children, the better the qualifications. I don't think the number of children is something I can say anything about, as this study was done here in the UK, where family size tends to be smaller, so there was no substantial difference to note."

She also said she had found no evidence of the oft-heard complaint of middleborns that they had been "left out" of parental attentions, adding 'It is interesting that we observer a distinct firstborn advantage in education even though parents in modern society are more than likely to be egalitarian in the way they treat their children.'

Read more - UK Guardian