The survey of more than 2,500 parents of children aged between four and 16, conducted by NHSdiscountoffers.co.uk, found that becoming a doctor tops the list of careers children aspire to have, closely followed by a nurse and social media influencer.
When delving into the results the platform discovered the pandemic has influenced children’s career aspirations, with three quarters (75%) of parents stating their child has changed their career choice since the pandemic started.
Two thirds (61%) of parents surveyed said the main motivation behind their child’s career aspiration is ‘to help others’. A quarter (24%) stated that money is their child’s main motivation, and one in ten (10%) answered that their child’s career choice is due to a genuine interest in the subject.
The top ten most popular careers children in 2020 aspire to have in the UK are:
- Doctor
- Nurse
- Social Media Influencer
- Firefighter
- Professional Footballer
- Professional Musician
- Veterinarian
- Teacher
- Actor/Actress
- Police Officer
The full results of the study, along with the top 20 careers can be found here.
The poll found that a doctor was the most popular answer with children aged between four to seven and 12 to 16, whereas the top career choice for children aged between eight to 11 was a social media influencer.
Along with two thirds of parents (75%) confirming that their child has changed their future career choice since the pandemic started, when the site asked respondents on the careers their children previously wanted, the majority stated their child has previously wanted to have a job in the public eye, with jobs such as a professional footballer, social media influencer and professional musician revealed as the most popular past career aspirations.
NHS Discount Offers has discounts available for NHS staff and their families through partnerships with hundreds of UK retailers. Codes are checked daily and include fashion, restaurants, holidays, electronics, broadband deals and more.
A spokesman at NHS Discount Offers, said
“NHS workers have been hailed as our nation’s heroes since coronavirus broke out, and it’s obvious that the children of 2020 know that and aspire to do the same hard work the professionals on the frontline are doing. It’s quite refreshing to hear that there’s been a shift in children’s career aspirations, to jobs that fundamentally exist to help others.
“Doctors and Nurses are some of the most important occupations out there and unfortunately we regularly hear of a shortage of these professionals. Hopefully this won’t be the case in the future!”