It has been known for years that older children have an advantage over their younger classmates when it comes to their school performance.
But the chances of older classmates performing better does not end there, according to a new study.
Older children are more likely to get into elite universities than younger classmates, and come out with better marks.
However, the study also found that August-born children have a higher chance of being incarcerated for juvenile crimes.
Older children are more likely to get into elite universities than younger classmates, and come out with better marks, according to a new study (stock image)
Researchers from the University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada, followed a group of children in Florida born either side of the cut-off date for entry into school.
‘Older children, in this case those born in early September, do better in elementary school than their younger peers,’ said Dr Elizabeth Dhuey, lead author of the paper published in the National Bureau of Economic Research.
In Florida, the cut off is September 1, but this is not the case worldwide – in Ontario, Canada, it is January 1, and in Scotland it is the start of March.
‘What we found in this study is that gap persists throughout their school careers, so they end up being more likely to attend a post-secondary school and graduate from an elite university,’ said Dr Dhuey.
The results showed the older students were 2.6 per cent more likely to attend post-secondary school, and 2.6 per cent more likely to graduate from an elite university compared to their younger classmates.
August-born children were one per cent more likely to be incarcerated for juvenile crimes, the report also found.
‘These are not massive differences, but it’s certainly large enough to be economically significant,’ Dr Dhuey said.
But this does not mean if a child is going to be young for their class their parents should delay their entry into school, a move known as ‘redshirting’.
‘It’s not clear at all that we should be redshirting our children,’ Dr Dhuey said.
Older students were found to be 2.6 per cent more likely to attend higher education post-secondary school, and 2.6 per cent more likely to graduate from an elite university compared to their younger classmates (stock image)
‘I think these are large effects and they’re important to understand, but parents shouldn’t place undue importance on it.’
Putting off a child’s entry into school delays them from entering the job market by a whole year, and there is no evidence redshirting works.
‘My ultimate goal is to somehow provide a causal effect of redshirting, that way we can really understand whether it’s a beneficial intervention to take or not,’ Dr Dhuey said.
Understanding the general trends might help a parent if their child is struggling, but it should not be considered a predetermined fate.
‘It’s important to remember these are on-average statistics, and that there are plenty of December-born children who are doing just fine,’ Dr Dhuey said.