Jobs and Birth Order

Revised January, 2011

All men may be created equal; but a look at their pay stubs will tell you that their incomes are not.

Blame it on social class, education -- even luck, but according to Dalton Conley, New York University professor of sociology and public policy, inequality begins at home. In his book 'The Pecking Order: Which Siblings Succeed and Why,' Conley says that 75 percent of the income inequality between individuals in the United States occurs between siblings in the same families. He points to the diverse fortunes of Bill and Roger Clinton and Jimmy and Billy Carter as examples.

Research shows that first-borns (and onlys) lead the pack in terms of educational attainment, occupational prestige, income and net worth.

Conversely middle children in large families tend to fare the worst. (Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!)