£100,000 bill to fund a child's future career1
Cost of UK’s top career ambitions set to soar in 18 years’
time2
Parents could be facing a bill in excess of £100,000 if their
children grow up to fulfil their career ambitions according to new
research released today by The Children’s Mutual. In its
annual ‘What I Want to Be’ poll, becoming a teacher, doctor or vet
are the job of choice for five, six and seven year-olds, but
parents are being warned to start saving now as the latter two
could cost £116,000 and
£117,000
respectively in 18 years’ time.
Tony Anderson, Marketing Director of The
Children’s Mutual, said: “Parents tell us their young children are
highly ambitious and that they, as parents, fully intend to help
them fund their futures. But the sums of money the top
careers command could cause financial nightmares for families who
don’t plan ahead. While the Coalition Government has
announced its plan to significantly reduce payments into Child Trust Funds from 1
August 2010 and to abolish the scheme altogether for new babies
born from 1 January 2011, the reality is that the cost of
children’s futures hasn’t changed. We believe that the only
way for parents to financially manage these costs is by saving
regularly over the long term and are urging them to continue doing
so.”
The Children’s Mutual questioned over a
thousand parents about what their children said they wanted to be
when they grew up and found that the majority of today’s children
are looking for a career which requires further training and
education. The top careers of doctor, teacher and vet have
featured in the ‘What I Want To Be’ poll for the last three years,
demonstrating that children consistently aspire to careers that
will need higher education. It currently
costs £74,700 to train to become a
doctor and £75,100 to become a vet but
these are set to increase by around £41,000 based on current
projection levels over the next 18 years.
93 per cent of parents of today’s
young adults are still funding their children, according to The
Children’s Mutual, and the expert in long-term savings for children
does not anticipate this changing. It is urging parents to
continue saving regularly over the long term rather than having to
face finding such large sums of money in the future.
Top 10 career ambitions for 2010, according to The Children’s
Mutual8
| Ranking |
How did you 'earn' pocket money as a child? |
| 1 |
Teacher (1) |
| 2 |
Vet (2) |
| 3 |
Footballer (4) |
| 4 |
Doctor (3) |
| 5 |
Fireman/woman (5) |
| 6 |
Policeman/woman (7) |
| 7 |
Pop Star (New entry) |
| 8 |
Nurse (New entry) |
| 9 |
Archaeologist/scientist (New
entry) |
| 10 |
Dancer (New entry) |
Mr Anderson said: “The children questioned for
our research are lucky enough to have a Child Trust Fund account
and with half of accounts opened with us receiving additional
savings on a monthly basis, we hope these children face brighter
financial futures. The question going forward is how parents
will fill the savings black hole for children born from January
2011 if the Child Trust Fund is scrapped.”
About the Research
In 2010, The Children’s Mutual surveyed 1,200
parents of five, six and seven-year olds as part of is annual
What I Want To Be survey. The survey is designed to track the
career aspirations of children in the UK and looks at changing
ambitions based on age, gender, family income and location.
Further research findings
The research also revealed that girls and boys
have different career ambitions, with girls favouring traditionally
female caring or creative roles such as nurse and hairdresser.
Becoming a pop star or actress also entered the top 10,
suggesting an influence from the ongoing presence of talent shows
such as X Factor, Over the Rainbow and
Britain’s Got Talent.
Top 10 career ambitions for 2010, according to The Children’s
Mutual8
| Ranking |
Girls 2010 Top 10 |
Boys 2010 Top 10 |
| 1 |
Teacher |
Footballer |
| 2 |
Vet |
Policeman |
| 3 |
Doctor |
Fireman |
| 4 |
Nurse |
Archaeologist/scientist |
| 5 |
Dancer |
Doctor |
| 6 |
Hairdresser |
Teacher |
| 7 |
Pop Star |
Vet |
| 8 |
Artist |
Astronaut |
| 9 |
Actress |
Soldier |
| 10 |
Ballerina |
Super Hero |
Boys on the other hand chose stereotypical physical careers with
soldier, fireman and policeman amongst their dream jobs.
Boys’ hopes of becoming a scientist may be sparked by the likes of
Doctor Who.
[1] The Children’s Mutual figure of cost of being a doctor
in 18 years is £116,000 and vet being £117,000, assuming 2.5%
inflation a year from 2010 figures
ibid
According to figures
compiled using information from Medschoolsonline.co.uk; NHS.uk;
NUS; Pinnacleshop.co.uk; gmc-uk.org; bma.org.uk and the-mdu.com
websites the cost of becoming a doctor today (November 2009)
is £74,685. Assuming inflation is at 2.5% a year for 18
years, this figure rises to £116,000
According to figures
compiled using information from Prospects.uk; NUS; BVA.uk;
Veterinaryuniforms.uk websites the cost of becoming a doctor is
currently £75,068 (December 2009) Assuming
inflation at an assumed rate of 2.5% a year for 18 years, this
figure rises to £117,000
The Children’s Mutual
figures on current education costs to become a doctor in 2010 see
above
The Children’s Mutual
figures on current education costs to become a vet in 2010 see
above
72 Point Cost of
Children Research – Jan 2010 - Question 15. Only 7.02% of parents
said they wouldn’t fund their adult children
Brackets denote rank
of choice in 2009