Researchers from http://www.bounty.com/ conducted a survey of 2,116 parents of children aged 16 and under.
The study looked at families with twelve different combinations of children including everything from a brother and sister to four of the same sex. The study did not include only children.
Parents were asked to rank their children's behaviour based categories like ease of care, compatibility and overall behaviour. The two girl combination scored high in every category. According to the results of the study families with 2 daughters found that they are unlikely to fight, will play nicely and are generally a pleasure to be around. They are also 'easy to reason' with, 'helped around the house' and generally 'liked each other'. A few other conclucions were that two girls rarely annoy their parents, make limited noise, often confide in their parents and are unlikely to wind each other up or ignore each other. All these things add up to a happy and harmonious family life.
I have only been a mom of two girls for a limited time but I honestly laughed out loud when I read some of the findings of this study! THAT IS NOT WHAT IT"S LIKE IN MY 2 GIRL HOUSHOLD! :) Granted the survey was given to a limited pool of people but I am wondering if the scenario they paint is typical? My girls are loud, love to wind each other up, fight all the time and they rarely play nicely with each other for more than 5 minutes at a time and let's be brutally honest - they annoy me numerous times a day - usuallly due to all the fighting, loudness and working each other up they like to take part in on a daily basis. Maybe it's because they are still young and so close in age (15 months apart) - I can only hope that as they get older the findings presented in this study will ring true in my household. :) I do have to admit though that behind all the fighting they do genuinely love and like each other and my husband and I both have an amazing bond with our girls.
A few more interesting results revealed by this study were that the second most satisfactory combination of children was one boy and one girl. Parents with a child of each gender reported that they rarely argued over toys, belongings and who can have what. These parents also reported that having one of each gender made it easier to reason with them, which made it easy for parents to sort out problems. The only downside reported of having a boy and a girl was a lack of shared interest as they grow up, which makes sense since they would most likely like different types of things.
The third easiest combination of children was two boys. Parents of two boys revealed they are often best friends throughout their childhood. The downside came as they grow up. The parents reported that the boys rarely confided in them as they grew up, which seems to be the oppostie of the two girl household.
One final thing I found interesting was that the study found that the more girls you have in a household, the more of a handful they become - even more than boys! This I can totally see. Parents with four girls turned out to be the least happy of all the parents surveyed. One in four of parents with 4 girls admitted they were not 100 per cent happy with their lot - and one in three found it hard to cope on a daily basis.
After reading this article, I don't know if we have the best scenario in our household but I do know that I personally wouldn't want it any other way! :)
What do you think of the results of the survey compared with your own family?
(Information provided from an article written in http://www.telegraph.co.uk/)