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The Effect of Sibship Size on Children’s Outcomes: Evidence from Vietnam

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  • Daniel Mont

    (University College London)

  • Cuong Viet Nguyen

    (Ton Duc Thang University
    Ton Duc Thang University)

  • Anh Tran

    (Indiana University Bloomington)

Abstract

The child quality-quantity debate pays extensive attention to the effect of sibship size on education, but less is known about other outcomes of children such as health and labor. In this study, we estimate the effect of sibship size on various outcomes of children including disability, education and the labor supply of children in Vietnam. We do not find significant effects of sibship size on disability and working status of children. However, we find that having an additional sibling increases the risk of dropping out of school. More specifically, having an additional sibling reduces the probability of schooling of the first-born children by 1.6 percentage points in families with at least a child. This effect is increasing to around 3.0 percentage points in families with at least three children. The effect of sibship size on the number of completed grades is also higher and more significant in large families.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Mont & Cuong Viet Nguyen & Anh Tran, 2020. "The Effect of Sibship Size on Children’s Outcomes: Evidence from Vietnam," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 13(1), pages 147-173, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:chinre:v:13:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s12187-019-09673-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s12187-019-09673-z
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    Cited by:

    1. Nguyen, Cuong, 2020. "Urban Poverty in Vietnam: Recent Evidences from Household Surveys," MPRA Paper 108972, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Vu, Linh Hoang & Tran, Tuyen Quang, 2021. "Sibship composition, birth order and education: Evidence from Vietnam," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sibship size; Health; Disability; School enrolment; Employment; Vietnam;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

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