Birth Order, Gender Attitudes, and Educational Attainment

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Abstract

This paper investigates how birth order and cultural attitudes interact to shape educational attainment in immigrant families using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1999-2021) and the World Values Survey.

I find that firstborn males complete 1.46 more years of education than their later-born brothers, representing 0.64 standard deviations of educational attainment. While firstborn daughters in families with relatively more progressive gender attitudes gain an additional 0.6 years of education beyond the male firstborn premium, this advantage disappears in families with traditional attitudes.

These patterns persist after accounting for family fixed effects and potential fertility-based selection, suggesting that cultural attitudes can override typically beneficial birth order effects. The results highlight how traditional gender norms moderate the relationship between birth order and educational investment in immigrant families.