The Secret To Success? Having A Big Sister

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An older sister in Kenya carries her baby sibling. A new study looks at the impact of a big sister’s caregiving in low- and middle-income countries.

Wendy Stone/Corbis via Getty Images

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Wendy Stone/Corbis via Getty Images

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That possibility is bolstered by other recent studies. Take one done in rural Pakistan by economist Javaeria Qureshi of University of Illinois at Chicago.

Qureshi compared girls who lived far away from girls’ schools with girls who lived close by — and were therefore far more likely to attend. She found a substantial benefit to younger brothers of the girls. It appears the older sisters were helping boys with their homework. And the more educated the girls were, the more the younger boys profited.

«I find that an additional year of schooling completed by the oldest sister translates to [the equivalent of getting an] additional fifth of a schooling year for the younger brother, says Qureshi. «It’s really a testament to this important role that older sisters play in raising their younger siblings across most of the developing world.

As heartening as this might seem, however, Jakiela, the co-author of the Kenya study, says it’s important to consider the potential downside.

«Seen through the lens of the younger child, she says, «it’s a charming story of everybody loving their older sister. But this uneven burden of care work has real costs for older girls. For instance, it often means they have less time for their own schoolwork and play.

In fact a growing number of researchers are investigating this effect. Marcella Alsan, an economist and public health expert at Harvard University, analyzed schooling data on more than 120,000 adolescents in 38 low- and middle- income countries. She and her collaborators found that during weeks when a younger sibling in the household was sick, the older girls appeared more likely than the older boys to miss school so they could take care of the sick sibling.

Specifically when it came to attendance among these big sisters and big brothers, «the gender gap increased to almost 8 percentage points if there had been one illness episode, says Alsan. «It increased further if there were two or more illness episodes.

But Alsan has also found that this points to a way to help girls. In a separate study, looking at children in Turkey, she found that a vaccination campaign for toddlers had a positive spillover effect on their older sisters.

«This did free up girls to attain more education, says Alsan.

In other words, improving the health of toddlers — so they don’t need to be cared for as much — may also be a way to help older girls.

The larger point of all these findings, say the researchers is that policymakers need to be a lot more mindful about the potential negative effects of this unacknowledged work that so many older girls in poorer countries are doing. And to look for solutions.