Sibship Size and Gendered Resource Dilution in Different Societal Contexts

TY - JOUR

T1 - Sibship Size and Gendered Resource Dilution in Different Societal Contexts

AU - Kalmijn, M.

AU - van de Werfhorst, H.G.

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - 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 Europeancountries, 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.

AB - 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 Europeancountries, 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.

KW - SSCI

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0160953

DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0160953

M3 - Article

SN - 1932-6203

VL - 11

JO - PLoS One

JF - PLoS One

IS - 8

M1 - e0160953

ER -