Survey Says Parents’ Income Determines Children’s Job Preference

It was disclosed that the job preference of elementary school students differed depending on the income level of their parents. Children from high-income families showed stronger preferences toward professional vocations or artistic professions, while those from families with lower incomes preferred government jobs.

This was revealed by a poll carried out by the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (KRIVET) in July this year, targeting 4,565 students in 179 elementary students nationwide.

For income classification, those polled were asked how the economic conditions of their families influenced their career, and were classified as high income family, middle income family and low income family depending on which answers they chose.

The Higher Parents’ Income, the Stronger the Preference for Professional Vocations-

Children from low-income families showed less of a preference for professional or technical vocations compared to those from high or middle income families.

Law was ranked 6th by children from high-income families but 8th by those from middle-income families, and 9th in by those from low-income families. Being a professor was ranked 5th in high and middle-income family students, but 7th in low-income family students.

In contrast, preferences for government jobs, middle management jobs, and office jobs were high among low-income family students.

Public Education Ought to Provide Job Career Education-

Experts explain that children’s perspectives on vocations differ depending on income levels or the amount of information received from parents.

Kim Ki-heon, a researcher at the National Youth Policy Institute said, “Children from low-income families tend to prefer stable jobs because their parents had no stability, while children from high income families have a tendency to seek achievements in professional fields like their parents.”

“Children with highly-educated middle class parents sometimes have specific ideas about future jobs because they have different cultural privileges and experience,” explains Education Professor Yang Jeong-ho at Sungkyunkwan University. “Rather than saying ‘I want to be a professor,’ they say ‘I want to be a professor of computer science,’ and rather than saying ‘I want to be a diplomat,’ they say, ‘I want to be a diplomat to China or the UN.”

Regarding this explanation Oh Ho-young, a KRIVET researcher, said, “Schools need to provide students with more job education so they can obtain information about different vocations so as to enable them to overcome the limitations imposed on them.”

gaea@donga.com