Birth Order, Family Size and Health

Previous research has found that family size and birth order affects outcomes such as educational achievements, health and earnings. Quantity-Quality model (Becker and Lewis) postulates a negative relationship between family size and the health of children. However the direction and magnitude of the effect is still unresolved, followed by some recent medical studies. The mechanisms behind these effects are however still needed to be discovered. In this paper, we used RLMS (Russian Longitudinal Monitoring System) between 1992 and 2016 to estimate the effect of family size and birth order on children’s health, and testify whether the Quantity-Quality model dominates other theories. The paper consists of 6 different chapters. First, a literature review is conducted to understand the whole framework around the topic and provide the existing results and accumulated knowledge related to our issue. Then the main hypotheses are formulated. In the next chapter, the used methodology is described in details with data and all methods used. Next, we conduct our analysis and present the results. After that, the conclusions about the paper and research are made. Finally, potential limitations and future research directions are noted.