Kids would rather be YouTuber instead of astronaut; foresee Mars landing in future

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — Kids today are much more likely to want to be a YouTuber than an astronaut.

The Harris Poll/Lego survey was done ahead of the 50th anniversary of the landing on the moon.

In that poll, nearly nine out of 10 children between the ages of 8 and 12 in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada said they were interested in space exploration.

A similar percentage believe a human will go to Mars in the future.  That belief was most strongly held by children in China, where 97 percent of them believe a human will go to Mars and a quarter think it will happen in the next year or two.

But the survey found that only 11 percent of today’s children aspire to become an astronaut.  That compared to 29 percent saying they wanted to be a YouTuber.

The poll takers did not break down what other careers were of interest to children in this age group, or if YouTuber was the top option for children.