| 1. |
- Baranowska-Rataj, Anna, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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The effect of number of siblings on adult mortality : Evidence from Swedish registers for cohorts born between 1938 and 1972
- 2017
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Ingår i: Population Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0032-4728 .- 1477-4747. ; 71:1, s. 43-63
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Demographic research has paid much attention to the impact of childhood conditions on adult mortality. We focus on one of the key aspects of early life conditions, sibling group size, and examine the causal effect of growing up in a large family on mortality. While previous studies have focused on low- or middle-income countries, we examine whether growing up in a large family is a disadvantage in Sweden, a context where most parents have adequate resources, which are complemented by a generous welfare state. We used Swedish register data and frailty models, examining all-cause and cause-specific mortality between the ages of 40 and 74 for the 1938–72 cohorts, and also a quasi-experimental approach that exploited multiple births as a source of exogenous variation in the number of siblings. Overall our results do not indicate that growing up in a large family has a detrimental effect on longevity in Sweden.
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| 2. |
- Barclay, Kieron, 1986-
(författare)
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A within-family analysis of birth order and intelligence using population conscription data on Swedish men
- 2015
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Ingår i: Intelligence. - : Elsevier BV. - 0160-2896 .- 1873-7935. ; 49, s. 134-143
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study examines the relationship between birth order and intelligence in Sweden. This research question has been of interest for decades, but only one study using a sibling comparison design has found that birth order has a negative effect on intelligence. The data used in this study is Swedish administrative register data, with data on cognitive ability drawn from the military conscription register for men born 1965 to 1977. Within-family comparison linear regression models are used to estimate the difference in cognitive ability by birth order amongst brothers. I find that there is a negative relationship between birth order and cognitive ability. This is consistent in sibling-group-size-specific analyses of sibling groups with two through to six children. Further analyses demonstrate that this negative relationship between birth order and intelligence is consistent in different socioeconomic status groups, and amongst individuals born in the 1960s and 1970s. Analyses of brothers in two-child sibling groups show that the relationship between birth order and intelligence varies by the birth interval. Second borns have a statistically significantly lower cognitive ability score if the birth interval is up to six years, but not if it is longer.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Barclay, Kieron, et al.
(författare)
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Birth Order and College Major in Sweden
- 2017
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Ingår i: Social Forces. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0037-7732 .- 1534-7605. ; 96:2, s. 629-660
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Previous research on birth order has consistently shown that later-borns have lower educational attainment than first-borns; however, it is not known whether there are birth order patterns in college major. Given evidence that parents disproportionately invest in first-born children, there are likely to be birth order patterns attributable to differences in both opportunities and preferences, related to ability, human capital specialization through parent-child transfers of knowledge, and personality. Birth order patterns in college major specialization may shed light on these explanatory mechanisms and may also account for long-term birth order differences in educational and labour market outcomes. Using Swedish population register data and sibling fixed effects, we find large birth order differences in university applications. First-borns are more likely to apply to, and graduate from, medicine and engineering programs at university, while later-borns are more likely to study journalism and business programs, and to attend art school. We also find that these birth order patterns are stronger in high-socioeconomic status families and that differences in college major explain approximately half of the within-family birth order differences in long-term earnings. These results indicate that early life experiences and parental investment shape sibling differences in ability, preferences, and ambitions even within the shared environment of the family.
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| 5. |
- Barclay, Kieron, 1986-
(författare)
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Birth Order and Educational Attainment : evidence from Fully Adopted Sibling Groups
- 2015
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Ingår i: Intelligence. - : Elsevier BV. - 0160-2896 .- 1873-7935. ; 48, s. 109-122
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study uses data on fully adopted sibling groups to test whether the explanation for the consistently observed negative effects of birth order are physiological or social in origin. Swedish administrative register data is used to construct full sibling data for cohorts born 1960 to 1982. Using a within-family comparison approach, I compare adopted siblings of different adopted birth order to one another to see whether birth order amongst adopted children (N=6,968) is associated with educational attainment by age 30, and the likelihood of having entered tertiary education by age 30. These same within-family comparison analyses are also performed on siblings in fully biologically related sibling groups (N=1,588,401). I find that there is a negative relationship between adopted birth order and both educational attainment and the likelihood of entering tertiary education in fully adopted sibling sets. These findings strongly suggest that differences in educational attainment by birth order are driven by intrafamily social dynamics. I also conduct additional analyses in fully adopted sibling groups where age order and adoption order are reversed to test whether there is evidence for tutoring by siblings. These results do not indicate clear support for any tutoring effect.
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| 6. |
- Barclay, Kieron, et al.
(författare)
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Birth order and hospitalization for alcohol and narcotics use in Sweden
- 2016
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Ingår i: Drug And Alcohol Dependence. - : Elsevier BV. - 0376-8716 .- 1879-0046. ; 167, s. 15-22
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Previous studies have shown that birth order is an important predictor of later life health as well as socioeconomic attainment. In this study, we examine the relationship between birth order and hospitalization for alcohol and narcotics use in Sweden. Methods: We study the relationship between birth order and hospitalization related to alcohol and narcotics use before and after the age of 20 using Swedish register data for cohorts born 1987-1994. We apply Cox proportional hazard models and use sibling fixed effects, eliminating confounding by factors shared by the siblings. Results: Before age 20 we find that later born siblings are hospitalized for alcohol use at a higher rate than first-borns, and there is a monotonic increase in the hazard of hospitalization with increasing birth order. Second-borns are hospitalized at a rate 47% higher than first-borns, and third-borns at a rate 65% higher. Similar patterns are observed for hospitalization for narcotics use. After age 20 the pattern is similar, but the association is weaker. These patterns are consistent across various sibling group sizes. Conclusions: Later born siblings are more likely to be hospitalized for both alcohol and narcotics use in Sweden. These birth order effects are substantial in size, and larger than the estimated sex differences for the risk of hospitalization related to alcohol and drug use before age 20, and previous estimates for socioeconomic status differences in alcohol and drug abuse.
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| 7. |
- Barclay, Kieron, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Birth order and mortality : a population-based cohort study
- 2015
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Ingår i: Demography. - : Duke University Press. - 0070-3370 .- 1533-7790. ; 52:2, s. 613-639
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study uses Swedish population register data to investigate the relationship between birth order and mortality in adulthood over the ages 30 to 69 for Swedish cohorts born between 1938 and 1960, using a within-family comparison. The main analyses are conducted with discrete-time survival analysis using a within-family comparison, and the estimates are adjusted for age, mother's age at the time of birth, and cohort. Focusing on sibships ranging in size from two to six, we find that mortality risk in adulthood increases with later birth order. The results show that the relative effect of birth order is greater amongst women than amongst men. This pattern is consistent for all the major causes of death, but is particularly pronounced for mortality attributable to cancers of the respiratory system, and external causes. Further analyses where we adjust for adult socioeconomic status and adult educational attainment suggest that social pathways only mediate the relationship between birth order and mortality risk in adulthood to a limited degree.
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| 8. |
- Barclay, Kieron J., et al.
(författare)
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Birth Intervals and Health in Adulthood : A Comparison of Siblings Using Swedish Register Data
- 2018
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Ingår i: Demography. - : Duke University Press. - 0070-3370 .- 1533-7790. ; 55:3, s. 929-955
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A growing body of research has examined whether birth intervals influence perinatal outcomes and child health as well as long-term educational and socioeconomic outcomes. To date, however, very little research has examined whether birth spacing influences long-term health. We use contemporary Swedish population register data to examine the relationship between birth-to-birth intervals and a variety of health outcomes in adulthood: for men, height, physical fitness, and the probability of falling into different body mass index categories; and for men and women, mortality. In models that do not adjust carefully for family background, we find that short and long birth intervals are clearly associated with height, physical fitness, being overweight or obese, and mortality. However, after carefully adjusting for family background using a within-family sibling comparison design, we find that birth spacing is generally not associated with long-term health, although we find that men born after very long birth intervals have a higher probability of being overweight or obese in early adulthood. Overall, we conclude that birth intervals have little independent effect on long-term health outcomes.
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| 9. |
- Barclay, Kieron J.
(författare)
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The birth order paradox : Sibling differences in educational attainment
- 2018
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Ingår i: Research in Social Stratification and Mobility. - : Elsevier BV. - 0276-5624 .- 1878-5654. ; 54, s. 56-65
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study uses population register data to examine the relationship between birth order and educational attainment in Sweden, and demonstrates that while the net effect of birth order on educational attainment is negative, later-born children often spend longer in education. The explanation for this finding is due to educational expansion in Sweden in the 20th century, which outweighs the negative causal effect of birth order for the affected cohorts. This is particularly true for women due to the fact that the rate of increasing educational enrolment has been greater for women than for men. These results also show that later-borns in large families particularly benefit from educational expansion due to the longer average birth interval between the first and last child in large families, meaning that the supply of educational opportunities increased to a greater extent in the intervening period. However, in periods where education is not expanding, later-born siblings continue to fare worse than first-borns.
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| 10. |
- Barclay, Kieron, et al.
(författare)
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Parental age and offspring mortality : Negative effects of reproductive ageing may be counterbalanced by secular increases in longevity
- 2018
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Ingår i: Population Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0032-4728 .- 1477-4747. ; 72:2, s. 157-173
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- As parental ages at birth continue to rise, concerns about the effects of fertility postponement on offspring are increasing. Due to reproductive ageing, advanced parental ages have been associated with negative health outcomes for offspring, including decreased longevity. The literature, however, has neglected to examine the potential benefits of being born at a later date. Secular declines in mortality mean that later birth cohorts are living longer. We analyse mortality over ages 30-74 among 1.9 million Swedish men and women born 1938-60, and use a sibling comparison design that accounts for all time-invariant factors shared by the siblings. When incorporating cohort improvements in mortality, we find that those born to older mothers do not suffer any significant mortality disadvantage, and that those born to older fathers have lower mortality. These findings are likely to be explained by secular declines in mortality counterbalancing the negative effects of reproductive ageing.
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| 11. |
- Barclay, Kieron, et al.
(författare)
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Parity and Mortality : An Examination of Different Explanatory Mechanisms Using Data on Biological and Adoptive Parents
- 2019
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Ingår i: European Journal of Population. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0168-6577 .- 1572-9885. ; 35:1, s. 63-85
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A growing literature has demonstrated a relationship between parity and mortality, but the explanation for that relationship remains unclear. This study aims to pick apart physiological and social explanations for the parity-mortality relationship by examining the mortality of parents who adopt children, but who have no biological children, in comparison with the mortality of parents with biological children. Using Swedish register data, we study post-reproductive mortality amongst women and men from cohorts born between 1915 and 1960, over ages 45-97. Our results show the relative risks of mortality for adoptive parents are always lower than those of parents with biological children. Mortality amongst adoptive parents is lower for those who adopt more than one child, while for parents with biological children we observe a U-shaped relationship, where parity-two parents have the lowest mortality. Our discussion considers the relative importance of physiological and social depletion effects, and selection processes.
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| 12. |
- Barclay, Kieron, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Reproductive history and post-reproductive mortality : A sibling comparison analysis using Swedish register data
- 2016
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Ingår i: Social Science and Medicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-9536 .- 1873-5347. ; 155, s. 82-92
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A growing body of evidence suggests that reproductive history influences post-reproductive mortality. A potential explanation for this association is confounding by socioeconomic status in the family of origin, as socioeconomic status is related to both fertility behaviours and to long-term health. We examine the relationship between age at first birth, completed parity, and post-reproductive mortality and address the potential confounding role of family of origin. We use Swedish population register data for men and women born 1932-1960, and examine both all-cause and cause-specific mortality. The contributions of our study are the use of a sibling comparison design that minimizes residual confounding from shared family background characteristics and assessment of cause-specific mortality that can shed light on the mechanisms linking reproductive history to mortality. Our results were entirely consistent with previous research on this topic, with teenage first time parents having higher mortality, and the relationship between parity and mortality following a U-shaped pattern where childless men and women and those with five or more children had the highest mortality. These results indicate that selection into specific fertility behaviours based upon socioeconomic status and experiences within the family of origin does not explain the relationship between reproductive history and post-reproductive mortality. Additional analyses where we adjust for other lifecourse factors such as educational attainment, attained socioeconomic status, and post-reproductive marital history do not change the results. Our results add an important new level of robustness to the findings on reproductive history and mortality by showing that the association is robust to confounding by factors shared by siblings. However it is still uncertain whether reproductive history causally influences health, or whether other confounding factors such as childhood health or risk-taking propensity could explain the association.
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| 13. |
- Barclay, Kieron, et al.
(författare)
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The Long-Term Cognitive and Socioeconomic Consequences of Birth Intervals : A Within-Family Sibling Comparison Using Swedish Register Data
- 2017
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Ingår i: Demography. - : Duke University Press. - 0070-3370 .- 1533-7790. ; 54:2, s. 459-484
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We examine the relationship between birth-to-birth intervals and a variety of mid- and long-term cognitive and socioeconomic outcomes, including high school GPA, cognitive ability, educational attainment, earnings, unemployment status, and receiving government welfare support. Using contemporary Swedish population register data and a within-family sibling comparison design, we find that neither the birth interval preceding the index person nor the birth interval following the index person are associated with any substantively meaningful changes in mid- or long-term outcomes. This is true even for individuals born before or after birth-to-birth intervals of less than 12 months. We conclude that in a contemporary high-income welfare state, there appears to be no relationship between unusually short or long birth intervals and adverse long-term outcomes.
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| 14. |
- Goisis, Alice, et al.
(författare)
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Advanced Maternal Age and the Risk of Low Birth Weight and Preterm Delivery : a Within-Family Analysis Using Finnish Population Registers
- 2017
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Ingår i: American Journal of Epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0002-9262 .- 1476-6256. ; 186:11, s. 1219-1226
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Advanced maternal age at birth is considered a major risk factor for birth outcomes. It is unclear to what extent this association is confounded by maternal characteristics. To test whether advanced maternal age at birth independently increases the risk of low birth weight (< 2,500 g) and preterm birth (< 37 weeks' gestation), we compared between-family models (children born to different mothers at different ages) with within-family models (children born to the same mother at different ages). The latter procedure reduces confounding by unobserved parental characteristics that are shared by siblings. We used Finnish population registers, including 124,098 children born during 1987-2000. When compared with maternal ages 25-29 years in between-family models, maternal ages of 35-39 years and a parts per thousand40 years were associated with percentage increases of 1.1 points (95% confidence intervals: 0.8, 1.4) and 2.2 points (95% confidence intervals: 1.4, 2.9), respectively, in the probability of low birth weight. The associations are similar for the risk of preterm delivery. In within-family models, the relationship between advanced maternal age and low birth weight or preterm birth is statistically and substantively negligible. In Finland, advanced maternal age is not independently associated with the risk of low birth weight or preterm delivery among mothers who have had at least 2 live births.
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| 15. |
- Goisis, Alice, et al.
(författare)
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Paternal age and the risk of low birth weight and preterm delivery : a Finnish register-based study
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. - : BMJ. - 0143-005X .- 1470-2738. ; 72:12, s. 1104-1109
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Based on existing studies, there is no conclusive evidence as to whether and why paternal age matters for birth outcomes. Methods We used Finnish population registers on 106652 children born 1987-2000. We first document the unadjusted association between paternal age and the risk of low birth weight (LBW; <2500g) and preterm birth (<37 weeks' gestation). Second, we investigate whether the unadjusted association is attenuated on adjustment for child's, maternal and parental socioeconomic characteristics. Third, by adopting a within-family design which involves comparing children born to the same father at different ages, we additionally adjust for unobserved parental characteristics shared between siblings. Results The unadjusted results show that being born to a father aged 40+, as opposed to a father aged 30-34, is associated with an increased risk of LBW of 0.96% (95%CI 0.5% to 1.3%) and to a younger father (<25) with a 1% (95%CI 0.6% to 1.3%) increased risk. The increased risk at younger paternal ages is halved on adjustment for the child's characteristics and fully attenuated on adjustment for child/parental characteristics. The increased risk at paternal ages 40+ ispartially attenuated on adjustment for maternal characteristics (=0.62%; 95%CI 0.13% to 1.1%). Adjustment for unobserved parental characteristics shared by siblings further attenuates the 40+ coefficient (=0.4%; 95%CI -0.5% to -1.2%). Results for preterm delivery are similar. Conclusions The results underscore the importance of considering paternal age as a potential risk factor for adverse birth outcomes and of expanding research on its role and the mechanisms linking it to birth outcomes.
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| 16. |
- Kolk, Martin, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Cognitive ability and fertility among Swedish men born 1951–1967 : evidence from military conscription registers
- 2019
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 286:1902
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We examine the relationship between cognitive ability and childbearing patterns in contemporary Sweden using administrative register data. The topic has a long history in the social sciences and has been the topic of a large number of studies, many reporting a negative gradient between intelligence and fertility. We link fertility histories to military conscription tests with intelligence scores for all Swedish men born 1951 to 1967. We find a positive relationship between intelligence scores and fertility, and this pattern is consistent across the cohorts we study. The relationship is most pronounced for the transition to a first child, and men with the lowest categories of IQ-scores have the fewest children. Using fixed effects models we additionally control for all factors that are shared by siblings, and after such adjustments we find a stronger positive relationship between IQ and fertility. Furthermore, we find a positive gradient within groups at different levels of education. Compositional differences of this kind are therefore not responsible for the positive gradient we observe - instead the relationship is even stronger after controlling for both educational careers and parental background factors. In our models where we compare brothers to one another we find that, relative to men with IQ 100, the group with the lowest category of cognitive ability have 0.56 fewer children, and men with the highest category have 0.09 more children.
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| 17. |
- Molitoris, Joseph, et al.
(författare)
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When and Where Birth Spacing Matters for Child Survival : An International Comparison Using the DHS
- 2019
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Ingår i: Demography. - : Duke University Press. - 0070-3370 .- 1533-7790. ; 56:4, s. 1349-1370
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A large body of research has found an association between short birth intervals and the risk of infant mortality in developing countries, but recent work on other perinatal outcomes from highly developed countries has called these claims into question, arguing that previous studies have failed to adequately control for unobserved heterogeneity. Our study addresses this issue by estimating within-family models on a sample of 4.5 million births from 77 countries at various levels of development. We show that after unobserved maternal heterogeneity is controlled for, intervals shorter than 36 months substantially increase the probability of infant death. However, the importance of birth intervals as a determinant of infant mortality varies inversely with maternal education and the strength of the relationship varies regionally. Finally, we demonstrate that the mortality-reducing effects of longer birth intervals are strong at low levels of development but decline steadily toward zero at higher levels of development. These findings offer a clear way to reconcile previous research showing that birth intervals are important for perinatal outcomes in low-income countries but are much less consequential in high-income settings.
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| 18. |
- Myrskylä, M., et al.
(författare)
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Advantages of later motherhood
- 2017
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Ingår i: Der Gynäkologe. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0017-5994 .- 1433-0393. ; 50:10, s. 767-772
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundIn high-income countries childbearing has been increasingly postponed since the 1970s and it is crucial to understand the consequences of this demographic shift. The literature has tended to characterize later motherhood as a significant health threat for children and parents.ObjectivesWe contribute to this debate by reviewing recent evidence suggesting that an older maternal age can also have positive effects.MaterialsLiterature linking the age at parenthood with the sociodemographic characteristics of the parents, with macrolevel interactions, and with subjective well-being.MethodsComprehensive review of the existing literature.ResultsRecent studies show that there can also be advantages associated with later motherhood. First, whilst in past older mothers had low levels of education and large families, currently older mothers tend to have higher education and smaller families than their younger peers. Consequently, children born to older mothers in the past tended to have worse outcomes than children born to younger mothers, whilst the opposite is true in recent cohorts. Second, postponement of childbearing means that the child is born at a later date and in a later birth cohort, and may benefit from secular changes in the macroenvironment. Evidence shows that when the positive trends in the macroenvironment are strong they overweigh the negative effects of reproductive ageing. Third, existing studies show that happiness increases around and after childbirth among older mothers, whereas for younger mothers the effect does not exist or is short-lived.ConclusionThere are important sociodemographic pathways associated with postponement of childbearing which might compensate or even more than compensate for the biological disadvantages associated with reproductive ageing.
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