It’s one of those age-old debates that everyone has an opinion on: which sibling is the favourite child?
Well, prepare to feel very smug if you’re the youngest child in your family because it looks like you really are your parents’ favourite…
According to the results of a joint survey by Mumsnet and Gransnet, anyway.
After quizzing over 2,000 parents and grandparents to see if they had a favourite sibling, around a quarter of mums (23%) confessed they did, while almost half (42%) of grannies said the same.
And, of those who had a favourite, one sibling seemed to stand out for mothers: the youngest. In fact, more than half singled out the baby of the family.
The reason? The majority said that their youngest child was ‘easy’ compared to their siblings.
But, if you’re an elder child feeling a bit glum right now, don’t despair because it looks like there’s a good chance your grandparents like you best.
Yep, of those grandmothers who said they had a favourite, 39% said the eldest was their pride and joy.
Mumsnet and Gransnet founder Justine Roberts told The Week: ‘Favouritism is one of the last taboos and can provoke a lot of guilt, so it’s important to say that feeling a greater affinity for a particular child – often, whichever one is willing to put their shoes on – is fairly common, and doesn’t have to be disastrous.
‘Toxic favouritism, where siblings become aware of being treated unfairly over the long term, is a whole other ball game. The distilled Mumsnet wisdom on this issue is that lots of parents like their children differently: the crucial thing is to love them all wholly.’
This isn’t the first time the youngest child has been crowned the favourite: a scientific study published in November confirmed this was the case, too.
