Two daughters make for happy family life

It seems smaller families are the key to a harmonious household, and if you want to minimalise the squabbling then having two girls is the way forward

If you’re starting to think about children, you might want to pray for girls as researchers conclude that having two daughters is the perfect combination for a blissful family life.

Findings suggest that two girls might make life that little bit easier as they are less likely to fight, rarely annoy their parents, and make limited noise. By contrast, if the number is doubled to four daughters, you might want to invest in earplugs.

‘The more girls you have, the more of a handful they become,’ says Faye Mingo, spokeswoman for www.bounty.com. ‘In fact going from two to four girls seems to take parents from one extreme to the other – whilst doubling the amount of boys has much less impact.’

The poll of 2,116 parents and children under 16 revealed that those parents with four daughters had to cope with an average of four fights a day and had to deal with financial implications like buying a bigger house and car.

The study looked into families with 12 different combinations of children and found the pattern of two girls to score highly in every category, from helping around the house to liking each other.

‘The findings were absolutely fascinating,’ says Faye. ‘We often assume little girls behave like angels and if you have two this certainly seems to be the case.’

The most favourable combination after two girls was one boy and one girl with 86 per cent of parents with one child of each gender claiming they rarely argue over toys and could also be reasoned with easily. The only downside was a lack of shared interest as they grew up.

‘Rightly or wrongly, parents have a set idea about the combination of children that would make up their ideal family unit,’ says Faye. ‘But of course nature doesn’t allow us to choose.

‘Making sure quality time is spent with all children and reminding them how lucky they are to have siblings can help everyone to get the most out of family life together.'

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