Parents of Firstborn Sons Are More Generous
So much for “share and share alike.” A new study about philanthropy reveals that the gender and birth order of children affects the frequency, and the amount, that their parents give to charity.
Parents with two or more kids whose firstborn is a boy are more likely to give — and give more generously than parents whose firstborn is a girl, reveals the “Women Give 2015” report from the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University released Wednesday. “The sex of the first-born child affects … the types of causes and organizations they support” as well, WPI director Debra Mesch wrote in a statement. “This is an important factor influencing charitable giving that was previously unknown."
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According to the report — which analyzed data about more than 13,000 people in households over the course of 11 years, including each adult’s history of having children and his or her socioeconomic and relationship status — parents with at least two kids whose first child is a son were slightly more likely (nearly 2 percent) to give to charity than those whose firstborn is a daughter. And when they gave, they contributed 14.3 percent more.
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But when the parents had only one child, it was those with a daughter who were more likely (2.6 percent) to give. They also gave more: 20.3 percent over what couples who had just one son gave. (In single-parent homes, however, “the sex of the first-born child does not affect the charitable giving,” researchers report.)
The causes to which the families gave also fell into different categories by gender. “The first-born son effect seen in the majority of two-parent family configurations is mostly due to increased giving to educational institutions and youth and family services organizations,” the report details. “The daughter effect seen in the [single-child] family configuration is mostly due to increased giving to educational institutions and organizations that help people with basic needs.”
Why parents’ charity goes along these lines isn’t completely known. “We examined several mechanisms suggested by the literature, and found that they could not explain the first-born son effect on giving,” the researchers noted in their report. But Andrea Pactor, associate director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute, tells Yahoo Parenting that there are a few factors that help explain the associations. “Some researchers have found that men are more engaged with their families when they have sons,” she says. “It seems likely then that families would support organizations that men prefer, such as scouting, boys’ clubs, and recreation.”
And when it comes to the parents of girls, Pactor continues, the “daughter effect,” of giving to organizations that provide life essentials, reflects “the mothers’ responsiveness to their daughters.” Through their analyzation, the researchers actually found that mothers reported spending more time with their firstborn daughters than with their firstborn sons, and talked with the girls about their day more, making the moms more “responsive” to their daughters.
Why does it all matter anyway? The findings “help parents understand that philanthropy occurs both from parent to child and child to parent,” she says. “And parents who wish to build a family with philanthropy as a core value should be intentional with sons and daughters in teaching this lifelong behavior.” In thinking about the implications of this study, she notes, “It may be that mothers [consider acknowledging how they] talk more openly with their daughters than their sons about caring and giving behavior.” Then moving forward, she suggests, “Parents may want to encourage both sons and daughters to engage in volunteer activities.”
Top photo: Corbis
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