MORE than a fifth of parents would rather their child earned a decent wage as an adult than grew up to be kind or honest, research has revealed.

A new study of parents in the UK found one in 20 want success for their children above happiness.

And one sixth of mums and dads already have a career in mind for their child, with 25 per cent admitting to deliberately talking about those jobs more than others.

More than half of parents are also proactive in encouraging their children to take certain subjects at school, in a bid to lead them towards their career of choice.

But the careers parents want for their children differ between mums and dads.

Mothers are more likely to want their children to progress along the path of engineering and manufacturing – 27 per cent compared to 21 per cent of dads.

The research of 2,000 people showed a third of fathers are keen for their sons or daughters to go into computing or coding, compared to just 13 per cent of mums.

A spokesman for Siemens, which carried out the research, said: “Obviously, most parents wish for their children to be happy.

CAREER OVER HAPPINESS

“But our results found happiness can be found in different ways – with some feeling that money can buy that happiness.

“What is interesting is that the favoured career choice above all others for mums was engineering and manufacturing, which is encouraging as those entering STEM subjects are our future makers.

“And dads also recognise that it is important for both girls and boys to embrace technology at school and in years to come.”

The study also found more dads would like their children to go into a career in information technology – 23 per cent compared to 11 per cent of mums.

Dads also favour careers in business or management, teaching and accountancy.

But when it comes to the leisure industry, mums are happier for this to be their child's career choice than dads (11 per cent versus seven per cent).

And no mothers at all want to see their children enter a profession in sales.

Dads were slightly more likely than mums to rate academic achievement as crucial to their children’s future happiness, with similar results for career success.

The favoured career choice above all others for mums was engineering and manufacturing

However, more mums than dads already have a desired career path in mind for their kids.

It also emerged that while fathers are more likely to encourage their child to take certain subjects at school, mothers are usually the ones to push children into after-school clubs or language lessons.

Men are also more likely to try and have their kids complete work experience at companies which take their interest.

When questioned further about whether they’d mind if their child pursued a career in engineering, 46 per cent of parents said they would be happy with the decision.

However, the Siemens research carried out through OnePoll found 13 per cent of fathers are worried the profession doesn’t pay well.

PUSHY PARENTS

And 15 per cent of mums are concerned that it is currently too much of a male dominated industry.

Brenda Yearsley, schools and education development manager at Siemens, said: “What the poll shows is that parents want their kids to work hard and do a job they really enjoy.

“It is great to see that engineering tops mums choices and shows how the industry’s efforts to engage young people are having a positive impact.

"The research shows that engineering is shedding its image as a job undertaken by men on a factory floor and people are now seeing how those types of roles will really shape the future.

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“We take on more than 550 engineering apprentices a year who work in designing solutions for healthcare, transport, energy, smarter buildings and consumer tech and the good news is that a rewarding role in engineering can tick help children fulfil their career potential in an exciting and varied role and be happy at the same time.”

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