Rich More Often Use Family Connections To Get Jobs: Study
NBC may be getting some widespread criticism for its decision earlier this week to hire Chelsea Clinton as a special correspondent, but Bill's daughter isn't the only rich kid to benefit from her parents' connections.
Nearly 70 percent of the sons of top earning men have worked at their dad's employer, a recent study from two Canadian researchers finds. More than 40 percent of sons overall have worked at their fathers' companies, but the odds of a father getting a job for his son rises according to income.
"All parents want to help their children in whatever way they can," Miles Corak, one of the authors of the study wrote on his blog. "But top earners can do it more than others, and with more consequence: virtually guaranteeing, if not a lifetime of high earnings, at least a great start in life."
As millions of Americans vie for limited job openings, wealthy kids' ability to use their parents' connections could be giving them a leg up in tough job market. Unemployment has hovered above 9 percent for months and the situation is just as dire for recent college graduates looking to enter the job market any way they can. Slightly less than half of the class of 2010 hadn't held one job by the following spring, according to a Rutgers University survey cited by The New York Times.
And it's not only the case that having rich parents can help job-seekers land a gig, the opposite also holds true -- living in poverty can also make it more difficult to find a job. Sean Reardon, the author of a recent study on the erosion of middle class neighborhoods, told the NYT that children who grow up in poorer neighborhoods are less likely to have less access to various social networks.
For those not lucky enough to be able to use daddy's connections there are some other -- albeit, less successful ways -- to find a job. One in six job seekers that used a social network to look for a job said the method proved successful, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Still, relying on parental connections may be the best strategy. In Brockton, Massachusetts, the School Department hired the daughter of one of the senior custodians for the school system to work as a custodian at one of the schools in the system, according to Enterprise News.
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The Huffington Post Jillian Berman First Posted: 11/16/11 04:09 PM ET Updated: 11/16/11 04:09 PM ET