A new study revealed that parents with two or more kids whose firstborn child is a boy are more generous in giving money to charity than parents who also have other kids and whose firstborn is a girl.
Experts from the Women's Philanthropy Institute examined how the sex of the firstborn child affected the chances that their parents support a certain cause and the amount of money they will likely give to charity.
In a report released [pdf] on Nov. 11 called Women Give 2015, researchers examined data that included more than 13,000 people in households over the course of 11 years. The data contained each adult's history of having children and his or her relationship and socioeconomic status.
Researchers discovered that parents with at least two kids whose first child is a son were 2 percent more likely to give to charity than those whose firstborn is a daughter. The parents with a firstborn son contributed about 14.3 percent more money, and would support causes for youth, education and family services.
Parents whose only child is a girl are also more likely to give to charity. Researchers noted these parents would give 20.3 percent higher amounts than parents whose only child is a boy. These parents would support causes for basic needs and education.
Previous researches have studied how the sex of a child influences the behavior of parents. The new study is the first to investigate the sex of the firstborn child as a factor in charitable giving or philanthropy.
"Finding that the sex of the child does have an impact on the parents' philanthropy is one of those special moments of discovery," said Mark Otttoni-Wilhelm, one of the main researchers of the study and a professor of economics and philanthropic studies at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
The study was affected by other family characteristics, such as the number of children in the family, if any children still live at home with their parents, the partnership status of the parents, and the parents' partnership history.
Meanwhile, the Women Give 2015 is part of a series of research reports at the Women's Philanthropy Institute that focused on how differences in gender affected charitable giving.
