THE BIRTH-ORDER FACTOR - ORDINAL POSITION, SOCIAL STRATA, AND EDUCATIONAL-ACHIEVEMENT

The relationship between birth order and academic attainment of 817 me n and women from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds in the United States was explored. A measure of respondents' family economic situati on during their growing-up years was incorporated. Birth order was fou nd to have an impact on total years of education completed among membe rs of the middle class. The observed patterns also indicate that ''onl y'' children, contrary to findings of previous research, appear dispro portionately to excel in terms of educational attainment. These findin gs support a resource-dilution hypothesis.