WHAT YOUR BIRTH O LY REVEALS ABOUT YOU
90 | June• 2019
flexible than they were for the first
child,” says Wallace. As a result of
their easy-going nature, youngest
children are often charming and hu-
morous. According to a recent study,
youngest children are the funniest
sibling in the family, so it’s no sur-
prise Billy Crystal, Goldie Hawn,
Jim Carrey and Steve Martin are all
youngest children.
‘ONLY’ CHILDREN ACT LIKE
ELDEST AND YOUNGEST
The only child in a family gets all
of their parents’ attention for life –
which has its pros and cons. “You’re
the first- and lastborn, so you have
a mixture of experiences,” says
Wallace. So while you might be a
high achiever, you are also babied.
At the same time, “only children are
like little adults because they live in
an adult world,” says Campbell.
But don’t feel too bad for only chil-
dren – a UK study found only children
are happier because they don’t have to
deal with sibling rivalry. According to
the research, the lack of siblings may
cause them to have lower social skills
in kindergarten, but by Year 5 they’ve
caught up with their peers. And con-
trary to popular thinking, analysis
shows only children aren’t lonely. The
resources their parents can devote to
them often lead them to be successful.FAMILY SIZE AFFECTS
MIDDLE KIDS MOST
The notion of the ‘eldest, middle, and
youngest’ birth order is predicated
on no more than three children in a
family – but what happens when there
are more than that? Not surprisingly,
middle children tend to be affected
the most. “If you’re the middle child of
many kids, you really have problems
establishing an identity, and you real-
ly have trouble getting attention, while
the oldest and youngest still have the
same focus,” says Wallace.fl ibl h h f h fi
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