The Effect of Sibling Gender Composition on Women’s Education and Occupational Choice

TY - UNPB

T1 - The Effect of Sibling Gender Composition on Women’s Education and Occupational Choice

AU - Gu, Yue

AU - McKenzie, Ross

AU - Sung, Sisi

PY - 2025/8/18

Y1 - 2025/8/18

N2 - This paper investigates how sibling gender composition affects women's educational attainment and occupational choice. Using data from the China Household Income Project survey, we estimate the impact, for first-born women, of having a second-born brother relative to those with a second-born sister. Given supportive evidence from the literature and our data, we identify a period (1963 to 1978) where the gender of the second child given the first child's gender is as good as random as it is not yet affected by selective abortion or other drivers of gender imbalance. The results show that having a second-born brother is beneficial to first-born women's educational attainment. However, other elements such as gender norms appear reinforced by having a brother: in the labour market, first-born women with a second-born brother are less likely to choose a male-dominated occupation, which on average carries a higher wage.

AB - This paper investigates how sibling gender composition affects women's educational attainment and occupational choice. Using data from the China Household Income Project survey, we estimate the impact, for first-born women, of having a second-born brother relative to those with a second-born sister. Given supportive evidence from the literature and our data, we identify a period (1963 to 1978) where the gender of the second child given the first child's gender is as good as random as it is not yet affected by selective abortion or other drivers of gender imbalance. The results show that having a second-born brother is beneficial to first-born women's educational attainment. However, other elements such as gender norms appear reinforced by having a brother: in the labour market, first-born women with a second-born brother are less likely to choose a male-dominated occupation, which on average carries a higher wage.

KW - Education

KW - Sibling Gender

KW - Occupational Choice

U2 - 10.2139/ssrn.5397146

DO - 10.2139/ssrn.5397146

M3 - Working paper

BT - The Effect of Sibling Gender Composition on Women’s Education and Occupational Choice

PB - Social Science Research Network

ER -