Kids now dream of being professional YouTubers rather than astronauts, study finds

A young boy wears an astronaut costume in the parking lot of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum April 17, 2012.

Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images

Today's kids are three times more likely to aspire toward a career as a YouTuber rather than an astronaut, according to a new study.

Toy production firm Lego surveyed 3,000 children between the ages of eight and 12 from the U.S., the U.K. and China, as well as 326 parents who had children aged between five and 12.

Almost a third of the kids in the survey said they wanted to be a YouTuber when they grew up, while 11% said they wanted to be an astronaut.

However, the responses varied depending where children were from. More than half of those in China said they wanted to be an astronaut, making it the most popular career aspiration.

In the U.S. and the U.K., that number fell to just over 10%, with vlogger (video blogger) or YouTuber ranked as the top aspiration in both countries.

Children's top career aspirations in the US and UK

1. Vlogger/YouTuber
2. Teacher
3. Professional athlete
4. Musician
5. Astronaut

Children's top career aspirations in China

1. Astronaut
2. Teacher
3. Musician
4. Professional athlete
5. Vlogger/YouTuber

Three in four children believed humans would eventually live in outer space or on another planet, according to the research, with 96% of Chinese children believing this to be true, compared to 63% in the U.K. and 68% in the United States.

When asked if they would like to go to space, 95% of Chinese kids said yes, while nearly 70% of U.S. children and 63% of British children said the same.

In 2017, a survey by Fatherly of 1,000 U.S. children under the age of 12 found that most children wanted to be a doctor when they grew up, followed by a vet, engineer, police officer, or teacher.