Siblings Spend More Time With Each Other Than With Anyone Else

National Siblings Day (also referred to as Sibling Day) is observed on April 10.  It is a day created to honor our brothers and our sisters.

Siblings. They are sometimes our best friends or our worst enemies. Sometimes, siblings will provide us with our biggest competition, most substantial encouragement and remind us of our most embarrassing moments.

• 400 BC – Hindus begin celebrating Raksha Bandhan in reverence of their brothers and sisters.
• 1903 – The Wright Brothers made the first successful airplane.
• 1997 – Claudia Evart created the non-profit “Siblings Day Foundation” in honor of her late brother and sister.
• 2016 – President Obama recognizes National Siblings Day.
• Fictional characters best describe those siblings best who are both rivals and yet are best friends.
  • In The Hunger Games, Katniss puts her life on the line to save her sister, Prim.
  • Both Bo and Luke Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard risked their lives for each other.
  • Author Beverly Cleary’s Beezus and Ramona’s longtime love-hate relationship between siblings depicted a normal childhood filled with angst.
• Real-life royal siblings Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret had a different set of rules to follow, making their relationship quite different from anything we would call normal. Being a queen will do that.
• Queen Elizabeth’s grandsons, Princes William and Harry, and William’s children, too, have royal sibling relationships that engage the world.
• Playing fictional characters who are siblings and being siblings in front of a television audience must have created a different lifestyle for Mary Kate and Ashley Olson. Their older sister is Elizabeth.
• Another pair of sibling actors is Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty.
• There have been plenty of presidents with siblings as well. George W. Bush has five siblings, and William Jefferson Clinton has three.
• The sibling relationship can’t be replicated.  Your parents leave you too soon, and your kids and spouse come along late, but your siblings knew you when you were a child. Assuming you all reach a ripe old age, they’ll be with you until the very end, and for that reason, there is an intimacy and a familiarity that can’t possibly be available to you in any other relationship throughout your life.
• Men with sisters are better at talking to girls.  There’s a greater degree of sensitivity and listening skills in boys who grew up with sisters.
• Middle children do get the shaft in terms of parental attention. Middle children (and many second-borns) tend to invest in greater ways in friendships outside the home and be much less connected to the family.
• Property is the biggest cause of conflict among siblings.
• Parents don’t treat children equally.  Parents can’t treat children equally because they’re very different people and they have different needs. Age is the obvious driver of this because older children will get certain privileges and freedoms that younger kids don’t get, and younger kids will get indulgences that older children won’t get.
• Kids without siblings get greater exposure to the adult world than those with siblings.  Only children tend to exceed other kids in terms of academic accomplishments, sophistication, vocabulary, and often, social skills.
• Siblings spend more time with each other than with anyone else.  A Pennsylvania State University study revealed that by the time children turn 11, they spend about 33% of their spare time with their siblings.
• The more siblings you have, the less likely you are to divorce as an adult.
• Parents do prefer one child over another. A team of researchers found that 65 percent of moms and 70 percent of dads have a favorite — typically the older child.
• Fights between siblings are natural.  A study has said that siblings who are aged between 3 and 7 years old are involved in fights 3 1/2 times in an hour. The frequency is even worse with toddlers, who reportedly fight every 10 minutes.
• Younger siblings tend to be more rebellious and extroverted.
• Siblings tend to bully each other.
• The youngest sibling is the funniest.
• Go hug your sister literally right now — she deserves it.  A study from Brigham Young University finds that having a sister, even if she’s younger than you, protects you from feelings of loneliness, guilt, fear, and self-consciousness, especially if you’re a young teen.
• 35% of women would prefer to be the youngest child, 34% the oldest, 17% the middle child, and 14% an only child.
• 40% of men would prefer to be the oldest child, 24% the youngest, 20% the middle child, and 16% an only child.
• Firstborns are generally smarter than the younger siblings, having, on average, a three-point IQ advantage over the second sibling.
• By the numbers:
  • 33% – the percentage of free time siblings have spent together by the time they reach the age of 11 years old.
  • 10 – the number of hours children spend with their siblings per week.
  • 17 – the number of hours children from large families spend with their siblings per week.
  • ½ – the portion of all siblings who go on to share the same level of educational and economic success.
  • 14% – the percentage decrease in the risk of obesity with each additional sibling in a household.
  • 65% – the percentage of mothers who claim to have a favorite child — typically the oldest one.
  • 70% – the percentage of fathers who claim to have a favorite child.
  • 3½ – the number of times in an hour that siblings aged between three and seven years old get involved in fights.
  • 390 – the number of families who participated in a research study that found younger siblings are more rebellious and aggressive than older siblings.
  • 8 – the average age at which children start being bullied by their siblings.
• Music about brothers and sisters:
  • He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother (1969) The Hollies
  • My Big Sister (2008) Barenaked Ladies
  • Brother Sister (2010) Beta Radio
  • Sister to a Brother (2011) Rob Finlay
• Movies about siblings:
  • Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954). A comedy musical film about a group of backwoods brothers who are all looking to get married.
  • Sabrina (1954). Two brothers compete for the attention of a beautiful woman, Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn).
  • Hannah and Her Sisters (1986). The stories of three grown siblings whose lives intertwine from one Thanksgiving to another.
  • The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989). This rom-com features two brothers (played by actual brothers, Beau and Jeff Bridges) who try to eke out a living as lounge pianists.

Sources:

National Day Calendar

What to Expect

Scoop Whoop

Elite Daily

National Today

Days of the Year