Adolescent Work in Family Business, Child–Parent Relationships and Psychological Well-Being

What is it about?

Previous ecological theory of human development research shows mixed results concerning the impact of adolescent work on psychological and family outcomes. We show the consequences of working in the family firm on adolescents’ parental relationships, self-esteem, and depression, highlighting the importance of high-quality work experiences in the early life course. Weighted regression analysis of longitudinal data from Statistics Canada’s National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth shows that those adolescents who work in their family firms on a year-round basis report a better relationship with their parents, and better psychological well-being than their nonfamily firm working counterparts.

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Why is it important?

This study can serve as an important empirical source to inform choices by parents in family firms as well as family business advisors regarding adolescents working in the business. It specifically speaks to those families who wish to create successful legacies. Our results suggest parents should give serious thought into hiring their adolescents into their family firm and offering them challenging and interesting projects to aid in their development, while simultaneously suggesting that all adolescents should strive to identify attractive high-quality work experience, such as working in their family business, during their formative years to build the psychological foundation for positive lifelong trajectories.