Kids in big families and their prospects

 

NOVEMBER 20, 2012 Tuesday

Kids in Big Families Get Less, but Achieve More

Each additional child in a family is associated with higher reading scores, even though additional births reduce parents' investments in their offspring: In a study by Marc Frenette of the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation in Canada, the number of computers per child in homes with six children was 64% lower than in homes with two children, and parents in six-child homes were 54% less likely to have saved for college than parents in two-child homes. Parents of large families may be more likely to be out of the workforce, and their presence in the home may boost children's abilities. Another possibility is that parental investments in children ultimately have no effect, Frenette says.

Source: Why do larger families reduce parental investments in child quality, but not child quality per se?