You may be surprised that twenty percent of parents would rather their children grow up to be wealthy and successful than happy and healthy. 2,000 parents of children between the ages of four and 18 were surveyed. Even more interesting was that about 20 percent of the parents did not agree with one another about their kid’s future. Moms wished for high grades and fathers wanted their kids to be happy.
Here are a few more findings from the study:
70 percent of the parents agreed that life skills were more important than academic skills in life.
One in six parents are most worried about their child being unemployed once they finished school.
One in ten are most worried about their child being lazy or that they don’t try and get themselves a good job.
Overall, parents want their child to grow up and be an honest, happy person who is also confident.
An important topic in this study was the definition of happiness. Parents said it means being healthy, being loved, having a family, being employed, and possibly being rich.
When teens were asked the same question they said happiness meant you were healthy, rich, loved, have a good career, and have a family.
In the end these opinions are all good and well, but families need to do a bit more talking about the future. The survey found that more than one in five families had never talked about their futures, together.
