Listen: Dr Elizabeth Kilbey on children and lockdown

New research has revealed a rise in children wanting to be doctors and nurses since the pandemic, with 25 per cent of kids now choosing the professions as their ‘dream job’. Interestingly, this compares to just 13 per cent of parents who wished to pursue the same career path when they were younger.

The research from educational gaming platform Osmo comes 7 months since the national lockdown to find out what children set their sights on for their dream job, what inspires them, and what they think their parents do for a living.

Traditional jobs are still popular amongst children, with the likes of wanting to be a Doctor, Nurse, Teacher and Police Officer all making the top 10*. Yet interestingly the rise of digital technology has also had an impact on children of the current generation, as Social Media Star and Computer Scientist / Coder are creeping up the ranks of popularity. The dream job for over half of 4 – 8 year olds (56%) is a doctor or nurse, with most children saying that helping people is one of the most important things about the job they end up doing.

Aston spoke to Dr Elizabeth Kilbey, child psychologist to talk about how children want to help save the world as a result of the pandemic.

Photo by Nikoline Arns on Unsplash