The Effect Of Eldest Child Status On Adult Income

Family is an important factor influencing the process of human capital formation and accumulation.Birth order is the most original family characteristic of an individual,which affects the family resources distribution,the attitudes of other family members,and role positioning.In the past,China implemented a strict one-child policy,so the impact of birth order is not significant,but with the gradual liberalization of the birth policy,it can be predicted that the impact of birth order will have a significant impact on most families in China in the future.The eldest child is the first child born in the family and represents a special birth order.This paper studies the impact of eldest child status on personal income,which helps to better understand the parenting patterns of families with multiple children.The eldest child status has an effect on adult income mainly by affecting the family resources distribution and the formation of the individual’s non-cognitive abilities.The total resources of the family remain unchanged for a long time,so as the number of children increases,the less resources each child in the family can obtain,which is negative to the accumulation of human capital(Blake,1989),therefore,the eldest child may benefit from the highest average family resources and can develop an advantage in cognitive abilities.In addition,differences in birth order can also affect an individual’s role in the family(Sulloway,1996),which in turn has an impact on an individual’s non-cognitive abilities.This paper constructs a panel dataset using the five-period China Family Tracking Survey(CFPS)data from 2010 to 2018,and uses household fixed effects and OLS estimates to conduct intra-and inter-family comparisons,respectively,to explore the impact of eldest child status on individual adulthood.The influence of eldest child status on the adult income of individuals in different regions,educational levels,birth interval,and gender,and further explore the influence and mechanism of eldest child status on personal income.The results of the study found that the eldest child has a higher income in adulthood,and we specifically draw the following conclusions:(1)Both men and women are affected by the identity of the eldest child,and the identity of the eldest daughter has a greater income effect.(2)When the family economic level is poor,the income effect of the eldest child status has a greater impact on the individual’s adult income.(3)When the birth interval between the eldest child and the second child is greater than three years old,the effect of eldest child status is more significant.The eldest children have higher education levels,higher cognitive ability scores,and are more altruistic,professional,and emotionally stable,and thus have higher adult incomes.This conclusion confirms the resource dilution theory and the family niche theory,indicating that the higher income of the eldest child benefits from more family resources and the non-cognitive ability advantages cultivated in social interaction with siblings.To sum up,this paper puts forward the following policy recommendations:(1)The government should give appropriate birth subsidies to families with multiple children.(2)The government should give more investment in education to poverty-stricken areas such as rural areas.(3)The government should strengthen family education,guidance and publicity for parents.Help achieve a more equitable distribution of resources in families with multiple children,and guide parents to adopt more scientific education methods in the growth of their children.