Do Sibship Size and Birth Order Matter to Child Education?Evidence from Vietnam

The main measures the impact of sibship size and birth order on educational performance of children between 6 and 18 years old using regression and matching methods. Data used in this study are from Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey 2006. It is found that the number of siblings has a negative effect child school enrollment. An increase of one sibling leads to a decrease of around 2 percentage points in the percentage of school enrolment for children. Schooled children who have fewer siblings are also more likely to have better educational performance than school children who have more siblings. Having one additional brother or sister reduces the percentage of pupils with “excellent” educational performance as well as the percentage of pupils with “excellent and best” educational performance by around 2 percentage points. The birth order also matters to child education. Estimates from regressions and matching methods show that children with a high birth order tend to have higher rates of school enrollment than children with a low birth order