When they grow up ... what are the aspirations for today's children?

Ben TobinYouGov PR Manager
December 04, 2013, 10:00 AM GMT+0

Children aged 10-14 are more keen to learn to drive and own a house than they are to go to University, get married or have children in the future, a recent YouGov Children’s Omnibus poll reveals.

Nine in ten (92%) said they would like to learn to drive when they grow up. Boys are very slightly more enthusiastic to learn, 93% believe they would like to learn, compared to 90% of girls.

YouGov’s research also shows that although the clear majority (70%) of children want to go university, this number is significantly lower than for driving (92%) and house owning (89%). The remaining 30% either don’t plan to go attend (9%) or did not know (21%).

With regards to marriage, just under two thirds want to get married (66%) in the future. The poll found that girls are far more likely to be planning on marriage, with two thirds (67%) saying they wanted to, compared with just under six in ten (58%) boys.

Despite the average age for marriage in Britain being 30.9 for women and 33.2 for men, it seems the current generation of children have different ideas, of those planning to marry, six in ten (60%) said they would like to tie the knot in their twenties while a fifth (21%) think they will so it in their thirties.

YouGov’s research suggests that living arrangements influence children’s desire to get married, with just under three quarters (73%) being raised by married parents want to wed in the future, compared with just 43% of those being brought up by a co-habiting couple.

63% would like to have children in the future. It also appears that females would like to have children earlier than males. 54% of girls that said they would like to have children, would like to start a family in their 20s, as opposed to 39% of boys.

See full poll results