Money Over Birth Order: Equality and Opportunity

A study suggests that money and opportunity, rather than ‘hierarchy of birth’ – plays the greatest role in people’s life outcomes.

A study carried out in Madagascar investigating the effects of ‘eldest daughter syndrome’ appears to show that wealth and opportunity, rather than ‘hierarchy of birth’, have the greatest impact on people’s experience and achievements.

In research carried-out by the University of Clermont-Auvergne with Malagasy girls and young women aged 10-22, it was shown that first-born girls do have different experiences than their siblings, including being 23 per cent more likely to marry at 19 or younger, and 1.1 per cent less likely to complete post-secondary education.

The study’s authors Claire Ricard and Francesca Marchetta note: ‘Firstborns in Madagascar transition into adulthood earlier than their younger siblings.

‘Our findings suggest that later-born children benefit from greater parental investment in education. This leads to better schooling outcomes and delayed entry into the labour market.’

But while it seems the order in which children are born can affect their outcomes, and it is certainly true that a child’s gender is an important factor in their opportunities, the study also underlines that poverty and related factors, including ill-health, lack of access to education, and hunger – factors little- or unrelated to whether one is the oldest or youngset child, play a far greater part.

‘Oldest daughter syndrome’ is the suggestion that firstborn daughters ‘must grow up faster’ – that they are expected to play a greater role in childcare and other household activities, than their younger siblings.

But when analysed in a little more depth, two striking factors appear.

First, in societies of all levels of wealth, from the world’s richest to its poorest nations, there does not appear to be as great a difference between first-born girls and first-born boys, as there is between first-born children of any gender, and their younger siblings.

This may indicate that the inequality and challenges girls and women face in all parts of the world appear to be of far greater significance than whether they are first- or subsequent-born children.

Second, the studies which have so far been performed on the ‘syndrome’ show wildly different ‘results’ based on a society’s wealth: that is, in the world’s richest countries, first-born sons and daughters tend to have higher educational attainment, stronger cognitive skills, enjoy better job prospects and earn higher salaries than their younger siblings.

In the lowest-income countries, including Madagascar, the ‘syndrome’ has comparatively negative effects – the eldest born children finish school earlier, marry earlier and may earn less than their brothers and sisters.

In middle-income states, both positive and negative outcomes have been reported.

Ricard and Marchetta comment: ‘Our findings point to economic constraints as the main driver for firstborns transitioning into adulthood earlier than their younger siblings (in Madagascar).

‘In poorer households, particularly in rural areas, firstborn children are often asked to help out financially. This often comes at the cost of their own education. Later-born children, by contrast, receive more investment in their schooling. This may compensate for their limited access to other resources, such as land.

‘We find no birth order advantage in wealthier households or among families where parents have some education. This again highlights poverty as a key factor shaping these patterns.

‘To sum up, our research shows that, in Madagascar, both male and female firstborns face an earlier transition into adulthood. They leave school and enter the labour market sooner.’

At Money for Madagascar, we work with Malagasy children, young adults, and adult men and women.

We know, from listening to them and from our and our partners’ direct experience, that women are faced with severe inequality and lower access to success than men.

But we also know that Madagascar is the world’s fourth-poorest country, that hunger and poverty are the reality for almost all the country’s men, women and children, and that almost exactly four in every five (79.9 per cent) Malagasy people live on or below £1.73 per day, the global poverty baseline.

The challenges faced by Malagasy people are faced by almost all Malagasy people, and are deserved by none.

That is why we, in listening to and working with Malagasy people, ensure that we provide a platform from which all can succeed – women and girls as well as boys and men, young people, farmers, entrepreneurs, environmental protectors and communities as a whole.

Find out more about our work here.