隔兩年再生第二胎 孩子更聰明?

Sibling rivalry: It is thought that the children benefit from the age gap because parents have more time to invest in them.

同胞爭寵，手足相爭：人們普遍認爲子女相差幾歲最好，因爲這樣家長就有更多的精力投入都孩子們身上。

Forget expensive educational DVDs and private tutors, the secret to smart children could be as simple as giving birth to them two years apart.

忘了昂貴的教學光碟和家教吧，想讓孩子聰明，祕訣很簡單，就是第一胎和第二胎的出生相隔兩年。

Researchers who studied thousands of children found a two-year gap to be optimum in boosting brain power.

研究人員研究了成千上萬名小孩後發現，要增進小孩的智力，最好是在兩胎間相隔兩年。

Any shorter, and the reading and maths skills of the older child dipped.

間隔時間再短的話，年長的孩子的閱讀和數學技能都會下降。

The effect was strongest between the first and second-born, but siblings in bigger families also benefited.

這一影響在第一胎和第二胎孩子身上最爲強烈，不過大家庭中有兄弟姐妹的孩子也會因此而收益。

The theory comes from Kasey Buckles, an economist whose own children are, rather fortunately, just over two years apart in age.

得出這一理論的是經濟學家凱西 巴克爾斯，挺幸運的是，她自己的小孩的出生間隔時間正好是兩年多一點。

She said it is likely that the difference in academic achievement is linked to the time and resources parents can invest in a child before a younger sibling arrives.

她說，學習成績的差別可能和父母在更小的孩子出生之前能夠投入到孩子身上的時間和資源有關。

However, waiting more than two years did not increase the advantage, the Journal of Human Resources will report.

不過，《人力資源雜誌》卻報道說，超過兩年後再生第二個小孩並不會讓孩子的智力更有優勢。

Siblings with a two-year spacing include Albert Einstein and sister Maja, and Lord Attenborough and younger brother David.

兄弟姐妹出生間隔兩年的例子有阿爾伯特 愛因斯坦和妹妹瑪雅，還有艾登堡爵士和弟弟戴維。

Kasey Buckles, who lead the study told the Sunday Times: 'We believe this is the first time anyone has established a casual benefit to increase the spacing between siblings.'

這一研究的領頭人凱西 巴克爾斯告訴《星期日泰晤士報》說：“我們相信這是首次有人提出同胞出生的間隔時間增大能夠帶來附加的好處。”

The study also showed that gaps between children in larger families was also beneficial.

該研究還顯示，在大家庭中，孩子的年齡間隔大也是有益處的。

Buckles told the newspaper: "The two year gap is significant because the early years are the most important in a child's development so dividing your time when the child is one is more harmful than dividing it when the child is already at school."

巴克爾斯告訴《星期日泰晤士報》說：“兩年的出生間隔很重要，因爲孩子成長過程中的頭幾年最重要，所以在孩子一歲的時候分散照顧時間比孩子入學後再分散照顧時間更有害。”

The effect was more pronounced in families with lower incomes, as those with more money could spend to compromise for lack of time.

這一影響在低收入家庭中更爲顯著，因爲那些富裕的家庭可以用錢來彌補時間的不足。