Parents should not allow themselves to be
intimidated by the cost factor when it comes to having more children, a leading
UK think tank has claimed.

A book published by Civitas, Sticking Up for
Siblings, points out that there is growing body of research showing that
children with siblings tend to be healthier, happier and more well-rounded.

But it says that parents are increasingly being
dissuaded from having another child by over-blown claims about the financial
implications.

The book’s author, journalist Colin Brazier
writes: “Having a second child will not save a couple money, but it need not be
as ruinous as the financial services sector suggests. Annually, there is now a
merry-go-round of media releases from banks, building societies and insurers,
aimed at putting a figure on the cost of children.

“But these figures frequently tell only half a
story. They fail to take account of the economies of scale produced by siblings;
the handed-down buggies, clothes and cots, the shared holidays, heating and
bathwater.

“Clearly, many parents do not rely on media
scare-stories to form opinions on the economic viability of family expansion.
Yet, it is strange to report that one of the most important and immutable
decisions individuals make is informed by a niche area of social science that
has been more or less colonised by PR execs from the City.”

The book points out a number of the hidden
advantages of a multi-child family – in a society where siblings are
increasingly scarce.

In the UK the number of only-children as a
percentage of all dependent children rose from 18 per cent in 1972 to 26 per
cent by 2007.

The book, written by father-of-six Brazier and
Swedish researcher Therese Wallin, draws on a host of international data-sets to
show the benefits to children of having siblings.

Among these are significant health benefits.
According to research cited in the book, children with more siblings are less
susceptible to allergic conditions because of the infections they share at a
young age.

A second-born child is a fifth less likely to
develop eczema than an eldest or only-child. The risk is halved for a
fourth-born.

A growing number of epidemiological studies reveal
the protective effects of siblings are better still for hayfever and even appear
to keep more serious auto-immune conditions at bay, including Multiple Sclerosis
and non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

The immunological protection can only be partially
replicated when young children share germs with non-siblings in childcare or on
play-dates.

Children with siblings are also less likely to be
obese than children without siblings from comparable socio-economic backgrounds
because of the smaller meal portions and greater calorific expenditure found in
multi-child homes.

New research shows how toddlers crawl and walk
sooner if they have a sibling while others reveals that, as children grow up,
those with older siblings are ‘coached’ and better placed for outdoor play.They are also less prone to mental health problems
brought on by family crises like marital divorce or parental death. Siblings,
particular girls and “over-scheduled” or “hurried” teenagers benefit from the
unconditional support provided by a brother or sister. In later years siblings
offer “mutual eldercare” and can ameliorate the impact of isolation in old
age.

They are more likely to be “well-rounded”. Contact
with siblings endows valuable soft-skills ranging from empathy to gratification
deferment, from risk-taking to the accumulation of moral capital.

The author draws on his years as a foreign
correspondent to consider attitudes to siblings abroad, and his experience as a
father of six, to assess how they are evolving here in the UK.

While pointing out that old-fashioned prejudice
towards only-children is outdated, and that sometimes having no siblings can
confer advantages, the report urges policy-makers not to ignore the impact of
shifting family composition.

Brazier said: “Children without siblings are
almost twice as commonplace as they were a generation ago. The reasons are
obvious; costly childcare, career disruption, the price of an extra bedroom. Our
only sibling subsidy – child benefit – has been slashed.

“Little wonder that more than half of couples with
an only-child say they cannot afford another. Better to channel those scarce
parental resources into one high-achiever.

“But as the fashion for the one-child family
catches on – is there a cost – for parents, society and children themselves? Are
siblings the real child benefit we have forgotten to count?”