After long hours harvesting forage, managing livestock, and milking cows, family members who work on the family dairy farm make $22,000 less annually than comparable hired managers.
But beyond money, these family managers are rich in “socioemotional wealth,” according to new research.
“While $22,000 seems like a large penalty, you have to remember that this includes only the labor that a family member provides to the farm,” says Loren Tauer, professor at Cornell University’s Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management.
“Although the literature discusses how family members may accept a lower salary working for the family business than they could earn doing comparable work in a nonfamily business, there are nonfinancial rewards they experience working for the family business,” says Tauer.
