REASEARCHERS CLAIM THAT having two daughters is the answer to an harmonious household.

As reported by The Telegraph they’ve examined the workings of families with a variety of combinations of both male and female children, and have found that two girls will make for a nice life. The study, commissioned by Bounty (a baby and pregnancy website, not the chocolatey coconut treat) claims that a sisterly pair are unlikely to fight, will rarely annoy their parents and will keep the noise down.

Parents are advised to stop at two girls though, as those who went on to have four daughters admit they are not totally happy, with one in three saying they find it hard to cope. The study found that doubling the number of boys from two to four had less of an impact.

Twelve different combinations were examined, and over 2,000 parents were asked to rank their experiences in a number of categories, including behaviour, economic and time factors.

Here’s the results, ranging from the best combination (two girls), to the worst (four girls):

1. Two girls
2. One boy and one girl
3. Two boys
4. Three girls
5. Three boys
6. Four boys
7. Two girls and one boy
8. Two boys and one girl
9. Three boys and one girl
10. Three girls and one boy
11. Two boys and two girls
12. Four girls

How many children is ‘ideal’?

Studies on the ‘ideal’ number of children have been carried out in America by Gallup since 1938, focussing more on the number rather than the gender. The results have shown that over the years the number of people who think three is the ideal number has gradually dropped, with the most recent results favouring 2.5 children.