Being a younger sibling must be a pain in the arse. You’re constantly compared to your older siblings, have to deal with their hand-me-downs and worst of all put up with the bullying, but there’s one plus – turns out you’re more likely to become a millionaire.
Those are the findings of academics at Birmingham and Reading universities, anyway, who discovered that the youngest children of non-entrepreneurial families are more likely to become entrepreneurs as they were ‘born to rebel’ and take risks.
Researchers discovered this by following 6,300 British men and women who were born in 1970 and raised with siblings, Stylist reports.
They found that in families which had no history of entrepreneurship, the youngest of two children had a 49 per cent chance of becoming their own boss by the time they were 38.
Even if you’re the youngest of three, there was still a 43 per cent chance of the youngest starting their own business.
If families have a history of self-employment though then things were flipped and the first and middle-born children were more likely to become entrepreneurs.
The results of the study were published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, and claims that siblings were ‘more likely to be exploratory, unconventional and tolerant of risk’.
Maybe it’s time to be a bit nicer to your little brothers and sisters?
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.