Collateral Affects of Globalization on Families

As I continue to rack up frequent flyer miles this week I visited Dallas, Texas and attended the Supply Chain World conference hosted by the Supply Chain Council (which celebrated its 10th Anniversary). I met with dozens of supply chain professionals, but I'd like to share a summary of a conversation that I had with some attendees from India.

In asking them about India, they explained the rapid growth is very exciting and it is forcing huge improvements to the infrastructure of the country. But what I didn't expect to hear is how the tremendous economic growth is affecting daily family life and social interaction. Many of the recent graduate students in India are getting paid a salary that dwarf's the salary of the students parents and this is causing a huge strife in family structures. No longer are parents the bread winners, now it's the children and parental pride is causing a strain. According to the gentleman I was speaking with, as the 3rd generation becomes more affluent, the parents only become more and more ashamed and in some cases have cut off ties with the children. This is also widening the gap between the lower and upper class, thus eliminating the middle class. Which opens up several other economic issues

There is no easy solution to this problem, it's a societal problem that will only get worst before it gets better. It's simply going to take time for parents rid themselves of the shame they feel and turn it into being proud of what their children have accomplished. I'd say more established economies, such as in the US, have similar problems as more women get paid equal salaries to men. Many men still cannot date or marry a woman that has a higher salary, but it certainly has gotten better. I certainly have no problem with it!