"Birth Order and Educational Attainment in 20th Century America"

Stephanie Hao will be presenting in person/via Zoom.

Abstract

Using a newly compiled dataset spanning more than one hundred years, I document a shift in the relationship between birth order and educational attainment in the U.S. over time. I find that, in the late 19^th century, older children are less likely to be in school, and complete fewer years of schooling, than their younger siblings. However, by the late 20^th century, older siblings receive more years of education. I propose that declining child labor in the U.S. over the 20^th century may explain part of this trend and why different birth-order effects are observed in high- and low-income countries.