Born Winter Babies School Summer Months Worse Leave

According to some researchers, if you are born in the winter months in the United States, you will, "on average" (as a group), do more poorly in life in many ways compared to someone born in the summer months. You will do worse in school, get less education, be less healthy, and die earlier than someone who was born in the summer. This strange fact has been known for many years, yet the reasons for it remain something of a mystery.

A 2009 study reported in the Wall Street Journal mention that there have been different explanations proposed by scientists. A popular explanation for many years was that the problem has to do with compulsory school attendance laws in the US. Something that is "compulsory" is required, something you must do. In most U.S. states, you are required to go to school until at least your 16th birthday. This means that if you "turn" (reach the age of) 16 in, "say" (for example), January, you can leave school in the middle of the year. Since people born in winter months can leave in the middle of the year, they will get less education than someone who was born in the summer months and therefore can't leave school until the year is over. (Note: Schools also have rules about how old you must be to start school.)

Some researchers thought that these compulsory attendance laws explained why winter babies did a little worse than summer babies in "academic" (school) achievement. But a 2009 study has found another, more convincing reason: Babies born in the winter come from mothers who are "slightly" (somewhat, a little) less educated, younger, and more likely to be unmarried. Other research tells us that the children of "younger" (especially teenage girls), less educated, single mothers do worse in school and in other areas of life than those who are born to older, more educated, married mothers. (This is a statistical average, of course, and not all children are like this.) So if babies born in the winter have different family backgrounds, this reason may explain their differences in school performance, and not some other reason. A person's parents' income, education, and "marital status" (whether they are married or not) can have a significant influence on how well you do in school.