Birth Order Differences in Education Are Environmental in Origin

Abstract

AbstractSiblings share many environments and much of their genetics. Yet, siblings turn out different. Intelligence and education are influenced by birth order, where earlier-born outperform later-born. We investigate whether birth order differences in education are caused by genetic differences. Using data that spans two generations, combining registry, survey, and genotype information, this study is based on the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). We show that there are no genetic differences by birth order as captured by polygenic scores (PGSs) for educational attainment. Furthermore, we show that earlier-born have lower birth weight than later-born, indicating worse in utero environments. Educational outcomes are higher for earlier-born children when we control for PGSs and in utero variables. Finally, we consider environmental influences, such as maternal age, parental educational attainment, and sibling genetic nurture. We show that birth order differences are not genetic in origin, but their environmental cause remains elusive.