As a current Bitkom study shows that six out of ten parents would advise their child against founding a startup. Interestingly, mothers are more open to starting a business than fathers.
When startup founders present their ideas to investors on television, millions of viewers now watch – but parents tend not to want to see their own children there. Six out of ten parents of school-age children (63 percent) would advise their son or daughter against founding a startup. 34 percent would definitely argue against such a step, while 29 percent say they would rather advise against it. On the other hand, around one in four (23 percent) would rather recommend founding a startup, while eight percent would definitely recommend it.
“Startups are important drivers of innovation”
This is the result of a representative survey among parents of school-age children commissioned by the digital association Bitkom. Lucie Volquartz, Startups Officer at Bitkom, points out the opportunities of a startup career:
"Digitalization offers enormous opportunities for Germany, not least for jobs and employment. Startups are important drivers of innovation in all sectors. It's not enough to always look a little enviously at Silicon Valley; we also need a true entrepreneurial spirit in Germany – and for that, encouraging young people is absolutely essential."
Women more open-minded than men
According to the survey, women are more open to founding a startup than men. While nine percent of mothers would definitely recommend such a step to their child, and 25 percent would rather recommend it, the figures for fathers are only six percent and 20 percent, respectively.
There are also differences between the types of schools children attend. For example, 36 percent of parents of Hauptschule students would definitely or rather recommend founding a startup, compared to 34 percent of Gesamtschule or Gemeinschaftsschule students, and 30 percent of Gymnasium students.
Parents of secondary school students are particularly hesitant, with only 26 percent of them positive about starting a startup. Among primary school parents, who are unlikely to face such a decision quite so soon, 29 percent say they would definitely or probably advise their child to start their own business by starting a startup.
Regarding the methodology used: The data is based on a representative survey conducted by Bitkom Research on behalf of Bitkom. 1,011 parents of school-age children in Germany were interviewed.
