STUDY: “Middle-Born” Kids More Likely To “Commit Crimes” Get Into “Trouble”

A new study has found that second-born children in families with two or more children, are more likely to get in trouble than their siblings.

Researchers of the study, that examined families in both Florida and Denmark, say that differences in parental attention may be a contributing factor in delinquency across birth order.

According to the study Birth Order and Delinquency: Evidence from Denmark and Florida, families with two or more children, second-born boys are 20 to 40 percent more likely to be disciplined in school and enter the criminal justice system compared to first-born boys even when compared to other siblings.

“Second-born children tend to have less maternal attention than do their older siblings because first-born children experience their mother’s maternity leaves and temporarily reduced labor market participation both following their own births as well as following the birth of the second-born,” researchers said.

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