Why mainland Chinese children are starting to turn their backs on the family business
- Study by PwC finds 58 per cent of the second generation are helping run the family business, down from 71 per cent in 2016
- Children want to choose their own career paths rather than work under the scrutiny of mum and dad, say PwC analysts
There is a saying in China that it is very hard, if not impossible, to pass on family wealth to the third generation. If a new survey by accounting giant PwC is anything to go by, it seems that increasingly the same could be said of the second generation.
The children of family businesses in China are becoming less inclined to take over the reins from their parents, preferring instead to choose their own career paths, according to the study released on Thursday.
PwC’s biannual survey of family dynasties found that in 58 per cent of cases, the second generation was helping to run the business founded by their parents this year, down from 71 per cent in 2016.
“Many family businesses in the mainland are relatively new, after China’s reform and opening up and may only have a history of about 20 years,” said John Wong, family business and private client services leader at PwC.
“These companies are still run by the founders who are still actively managing the companies. The children tend not to like to work under the tight scrutiny of their parents.”
