家庭规模与儿童教育发展的关系研究

An Empirical Study on the Relationship between Family Size and Child Educational Development

利用中国西部农村抽样调查数据,以学业成绩和心理适应性两方面指标来度量儿童教育发展成果,特别关注独生子女和非独生子女在这两类教育发展指标上的差异,以及两类家庭儿童的教育性别差异状况,我们尝试性地研究家庭规模与儿童教育发展的关系。研究发现,家庭生育规模减小有助于提高儿童的学业成绩,这对于出生在独生子女家庭的女童尤其有利。但是,出生在较小规模家庭或独生子女家庭的儿童,其心理适应性水平也显著偏低。此外,相对于独生子女而言,拥有一个同胞的孩子其学业成绩并不会显著低于前者,但是其心理适应性却显著高于前者。

Using sample survey data in western rural China, a study to determine whether the number of children in a family affects children＇s development has been conducted. The study especially focuses on exploring the differences between only-child and non-only child in their academic performance and personal adjustment, as well as the gender differences between them. Overall, the results indicate that children with fewer siblings have higher academic scores than those with more siblings, and these advantages are particularly evident among female only-children. However, those children with fewer or no siblings scored significantly worse than their counterparts in personal adjustment. Moreover, those who had only one sibling were found to be indistinguishable from the only-child and surpassed the only-child in their personal adjustment.