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Sibship Size and Gendered Resource Dilution in Different Societal Contexts

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  • Matthijs Kalmijn
  • Herman G van de Werfhorst

Abstract

Resource dilution theory hypothesizes that children’s educational attainment suffers from being raised with many siblings, as the parental resources have to be shared with more children. Based on economic and cultural theories, we hypothesize that resource dilution is gendered: especially a larger number of brothers is harmful to a person’s educational attainment. Using the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, covering 18 European countries, we show that the number of brothers is more negatively related with the odds of obtaining a college degree than the number of sisters. This holds particularly for women. However, this pattern is weaker in countries that are known to have a more gender-egalitarian climate.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthijs Kalmijn & Herman G van de Werfhorst, 2016. "Sibship Size and Gendered Resource Dilution in Different Societal Contexts," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(8), pages 1-16, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0160953
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160953
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    5. Masa, Rainier & Khan, Zoheb & Chowa, Gina, 2020. "Youth food insecurity in Ghana and South Africa: Prevalence, socioeconomic correlates, and moderation effect of gender," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    6. Zhu, Yuhong & Xiao, Chenyang & Zhu, Bin, 2023. "Gender differences in child sexual abuse in China: Do one-child status and repeated victimization matter?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    7. Hal Caswell, 2020. "The formal demography of kinship II: Multistate models, parity, and sibship," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 42(38), pages 1097-1146.
    8. Tim Riswick & Ying-Hui Hsieh, 2020. "Between rivalry and support: The impact of sibling composition on infant and child mortality in Taiwan, 1906‒1945," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 42(21), pages 615-656.
    9. Jonas Radl & Leire Salazar & Héctor Cebolla-Boado, 2017. "Does Living in a Fatherless Household Compromise Educational Success? A Comparative Study of Cognitive and Non-cognitive Skills," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 217-242, May.

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