Many parents often believe that the order of birth for their children has an impact on how they grow up, things such as their personality and outcomes in life can be affected.

In an effort to get a better answer on the topic, a survey of 10,000 mums was carried out to get their opinions on the subject. The following are examples of some of the questions:

Do you think birth order (ie position in the family) has an effect on a person?
23% answered No and 77% answered Yes.

If you have more than one child, which one do you think will succeed most academically?
Oldest Child 35%, Middle Child 6%, Youngest Child 15% and Cannot Say 44%

If you have more than one child, which of them do you identify with the most?
Oldest Child 39%, Middle Child 7%, Youngest Child 16% and Cannot Say 38%

If you have more than one child which one do you think is more likely to be susceptible to anxiety or depression in their life?
Oldest Child 45%, Middle Child 7%, Youngest Child 16% and Cannot Say 42%

If you have more than one child, which of them do you think will be happiest in life?
Oldest Child 7%, Middle Child 7%, Youngest Child 35% and Cannot Say 51%

Despite 77% of mums believing that birth order does affect a child, there were a large number of mums who wasn’t sure about, or were not able to answer some of the questions. However the results are rather interesting. For example, despite the older child being expected to succeed more academically, the youngest child is expected to be the happiest in life – as well as being least likely to fall into depression or anxiety.