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11 June 2007
Kuala Lumpur
The sense of inheritance between parents and children may be strong in terms of personalities and values; however it could be a different story when it comes to inheriting something more materialistic – wealth. About nine in 10 of the world’s netizens agree that it is important to leave wealth to the off-springs and seven in 10 consider it a duty for parents to do so, although significantly less thinks their children should ‘expect’ such an inheritance from their parents. 94% of Malaysians consider leaving wealth to the next generation as important (Chart 1), and 77% thinks it is their parents’ duty to do so. (Chart 2)
In a recently released Global Consumer Report, Nielsen surveyed 25,408 internet users in 46 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, North America and the Middle East (500 from Malaysia) about their attitudes to wealth inheritance and commitment to leave behind for their children.
The Nielsen survey unfolds a huge gap in expectation and perception about ‘inheritance’ between the young people/adults and those aged mid forties and above. Over 90 percent of people aged 15 -24 think it is important for parents to leave wealth to the next generation and about seven in 10 think it is a parent’s duty to do that. About two thirds also endorse that children have a right to expect an inheritance. These results have created a huge contrast with those of the mature adults. “Apparently the younger the people, the stronger they feel about the importance for parents to leave wealth to them and that they have a right to expect it,” said Paul Richmond, Managing Director, Nielsen Malaysia. “
In the meantime, the more matured the respondents, the less would agree to the mindset of wealth inheritance or that it is a duty for a parent to pass on wealth to their children, not to mention that they are also a group who is stronger in denying it as a right for children to expect an inheritance.”
The global survey also reveals another interesting phenomenon where men have turned out to be more ‘caring’ about their next generation with 41 percent think it is very important to leave wealth behind for their children and 30 percent consider it very much a parent’s duty, significantly higher that that of women’s.
Meanwhile, only 42 percent deny it is a children’s right to expect an inheritance, again significantly lower than that of their women counterparts (51%). Men (54%) also seem to be more willing to ‘sacrifice’ the quality of their retirement life than women (44%) in order to maximize the level of wealth left for their children.
“These results are refreshing - fathers are usually considered more subtle in expressing their sentiment - they perhaps serve as a signal for many of us as we celebrated mother’s day recently and father’s day this week,” Mr. Richmond said.
By geography, Latin Americans (96%) top the world in agreeing to the importance of passing on wealth to the next generation followed by Europeans (90%) and Asians (88%). (Chart 3). Although still led by the Latin Americans (Chart 4), the sentiment toward the obligation to leave wealth to their off-springs and whether children have a right to expect an inheritance of wealth from their parents drop across the region. (Chart 5). Similarly less than half of the world netizens would consider holding off from doing enjoyable things in retirement in order to maximize the wealth to be left over for their children, with the least likely to do so being people in North America (45%) and Asia Pacific (48%). (Chart 6)
Philippines (98%) ranks the world’s second with most people considering it important to leave wealth to their children. (Chart 7). India, Indonesia and Thailand (each at 97%) are the other Asia Pacific countries making into the world’s top 10 list in this regard, with Malaysia coming in at 5th position (94%) among Asia Pacific nations. (Chart 1)
The opinion split further when it comes to whether it is a parent’s duty to do so, leaving India and Thailand the only two Asian markets in the world’s top 10 where a respective 87 percent of people agreeing to such mindset. (Chart 8). Among the other Asia Pacific countries, Malaysia (77%), Indonesia (83%), and Philippines (86%), think parents have an obligation to pass on wealth to their children. (Chart 2). And 86% of Malaysians also think that children have a right to expect inheritance from their parents, second only to Thailand (87%), making them the top 2 Asia Pacific countries. (Chart 9)
One the other end of the scale, people in the Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and the Pacific have most people denying the importance of leaving wealth behind or that it is a parent’s duty to pass on wealth to the next generation. Again, the Pacific, Japan, as well as Singapore top the list in denying children’s right to expect an inheritance.
It’s interesting to note that while more than half netizens in China deny it is a parent’s duty to do so, seven in 10 think that their children have a right to expect an inheritance from their parents!
Feeling obliged or not to leave wealth behind for the children, 77 percent of people in India, and the Philippines, as well as 74 percent in Indonesia and Vietnam seem to be sharing a similar high level of willingness in holding off from enjoying their retirement in order to maximize what they could leave to their children. In Malaysia, only 57% would be willing to do so. (Chart 10)
Japanese (75%), Australians (69%), Hong Kongers (67%) and New Zealanders (67%) are in the meantime most refrained from compromising on their retirement life for the ‘well-off’ of their children.
About The Nielsen Company
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek), trade shows and the newspaper sector (Scarborough Research). The privately held company has more than 42,000 employees and is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.
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46 Markets Covered: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czechs Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Thailand, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom, US and Vietnam.
News-Rel-Inheritance1-11June-07-BM
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