1 in 4 UK adults work in their dream childhood job, Legal & General research reveals

• A quarter of working adults are in careers they dreamt of while at school.
• Teaching is the most popular childhood career aspiration (11% of respondents) and the most likely to be achieved.
• Greater London has the highest percentage of people working their childhood dream as a profession (31%), followed closely by the East and West Midlands (29%).
• 66% of adults have made or considered making a career change, rising to 74% among 18-24-year-olds.

The survey of 2,000 adults across the UK, which looked at how many people were following the career path they envisaged as a child, found that becoming a teacher was the most popular childhood dream job (11% of respondents), followed by aspirations to be a vet (8%), doctor (7%), or sportsperson (6%). Other popular aspirations included being a police officer / detective, musician, or business owner (all 5%).

Teachers were the most likely to have achieved their childhood dream job (23%), followed by business owners (7%) and (6%) doctors. 5% of police officers / detectives shared that they had fulfilled their dream, whilst becoming a vet was the dream job most likely to never happen with 10% of aspiring vets never making it into the profession.

The research found that women were more realistic about their childhood career ambitions than men with 16% aspiring to be teachers compared to just 4% of men. Meanwhile, men were far more likely than women to aspire to become professional sportspeople, with 14% selecting this option compared to just 1% of women. Just 2% of those who aspired to be professional sportspeople landed their dream job.

The study found that some respondents' childhood dreams were driven to pursue a passion, with 30% choosing a job relevant to their hobbies, while 24% were interested in school subjects relevant to their job or industry. A further 16% said they were inspired by their teachers to follow their childhood ambitions.

Meanwhile, 30% of respondents revealed they were inspired by a job or industry featured on TV or in film. 16% chose their job to ‘make them look cool’.

The findings also revealed regional differences, with the most popular childhood dream in the North East being to become a police officer / detective (13%).

Greater London has the highest percentage of people working their childhood dream as a profession (31%), followed closely by the East and West Midlands (29%). Those in the East of England (17%) were least likely to be following their childhood aspirations.

Of those who did not follow their dream path, more than a fifth (22%) cited a lack of self-belief or confidence. However, 22% of respondents who have not landed their dream job said they were working in their dream industry.

31% of men chose their current job as it offered a good salary, compared to 21% of women. People in the East of England were most likely to select ‘location’ as their reason for choosing their current job (20%), while those in Northern Ireland were the least likely (10%). The research also found that 30% of people were ‘very happy’ in their current role, while 41% were ‘somewhat happy’.

66% of respondents have made or considered making a career change, rising to 74% among 18–24-year-olds. But the ‘dreamers’ were much more likely to stay put. Meanwhile, almost half (46%) of those who were working in their dream childhood job have not made or considered making a career change. Of those respondents who had previously made or had ever considered making a career change, 15% said this was to pursue their childhood dream.

Regionally, there were various reasons people gave for considering or acting upon a career change. 50% of people in Wales wanted a better work/life balance, 44% of the South East cited finances and 22% of people in Yorkshire and Humber cited changing priorities over the pandemic.

To see the full research and videos please visit the Legal & General website: https://www.legalandgeneral.com/insurance/life-insurance/childhood-dreams

References

• Legal & General commissioned a survey of 2,000 currently employed UK adults to find out how many are following the career path they envisaged as a child. Legal & General asked respondents to think back to when they were 10-15 years old and recall their early career aspirations.
• This research is protected by Creative Commons 4.0. Please include a hyperlink to: https://www.legalandgeneral.com/insurance/life-insurance/childhood-dreams