Older siblings get more attention

A U.S. report said first-born children may attain more education and make more money because they get more parental attention.

Joseph Price, economics professor at Brigham Young University, said his research shows that first-born children get about 3,000 more hours of quality time with their parents between ages 4 and 13 than the next sibling in line.

The findings are published in the Journal of Human Resources.

"We've known for a long time that eldest children have better outcomes and these findings on quality time provide one explanation why," Price said in a statement.

Price said first-born children get more quality time simply because they pass through childhood when there is more overall family time to be shared. His findings were based on data from the federal government's American Time Use Survey, which involved 21,000 people, Brigham Young University said Wednesday in a release.

"If your goal as a parent is to equalize outcomes across your children, you should be aware of this natural pattern and try to give younger children more quality time," Price said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International