Adults often complain that young people today aspire to fame and wealth rather than traditional skilled occupations: approaching the end of compulsory education, today’s 15 and 16 year-olds want to be footballers or singers, not teachers or lawyers. Not according to data from the final wave of the British Household Panel Survey, which asked 1222 young people 80 questions on everything from their leisure pursuits and alcohol intake to their social attitudes and friends. Towards the end of their interviews, young people were asked what job they’d like to do when they leave school or finish their full-time education, and these are the results among those aged 15 and 16. Aspirations to be actors and sports players come high in the list – 6th and 7th respectively – but are less popular than aspirations to be motor mechanics, officers in the armed forces and the police. Aspirations to be secondary school teachers, solicitors and lawyers top the table. A click on the bubble graph reveals the data in more detail.
Data from the British Household Panel Survey 2009, visualised using Many Eyes