"Your Siblings Are Saving Your Marriage." By Katy Waldman in Slate's XX Factor - Aug. 13, 2013
Based on study by Downey, Bobbitt-Zeher and Merry. Presented at the 108th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, August 2013. Drawing on a sampling of 57,000 from the General Social Survey from 1972 to 2012. Excerpts from press release:
"Each additional sibling a person has (up to about seven) reduces the likelihood of divorce by 2 percent. The practical difference between having no siblings and having one or two isn’t that much. But when you compare children from large families to those with only one child, there is a meaningful gap in the probability of divorce. The real story appears to be how family dynamics change incrementally with the addition of each sibling. Having more siblings means more experience dealing with others, and that seems to provide additional help in dealing with a marriage relationship as an adult."
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