Younger Generations Joining Family Business on Upswing

New York, NY, April 14, 2025-"A young generation is taking a bigger interest in joining the family business, spurred by a cooling labor market that is making it more difficult to land entry-level jobs, economists and business analysts say,” reports the Wall Street Journal. 

“At the same time, their parents and grandparents-baby boomers and Gen Xers who own the vast majority of America’s businesses-are feeling more urgency about making succession plans as they look toward retirement. 

“The share of small businesses that employ a young adult child of an owner has doubled since 2018 and is up 13% year-over-year as of January to roughly 1,200, according to an analysis by payroll provider Gusto. The company analyzed 400,000 payrolls searching for companies where the last name of an owner over 50 years old matched the name of an employee under 30. The analysis purposely excluded 100 of the most common names in the U.S.

“It is still a small share of small-business owners who employ their children, said Gusto economist Nich Tremper. ‘But that movement is significant,’ he said.

“Children who go to work for their parents also tend to stay at the companies for years. ‘This is suggesting all parties are benefiting from this arrangement,’ Tremper said.”