Japanese kids are unsubscribing from a future in content creation in favour of old-school aspirations.

Last year, we brought you the news that “YouTuber” had become the fourth most desired future job prospect for elementary-school aged Japanese boys. But with YouTube being increasingly oversatured with content creators all vying to make a living from the still somewhat unconventional career choice, the role is starting to look just a little bit less appealing.

In a recent poll by Internet portal Irorio of 500 boys aged 6 to 15, and an equal number of girls in the same age bracket, YouTuber only managed a disappointing ninth place.  this year. The position doesn’t even appear in the overall top 10 list for Japanese boys.

So, what other vocations are currently popular, and how do they compare to a life of being gloriously self-employed and earning money for making videos for the entertainment of adoring fans?

Most desired future vocations for boys aged 6-15

1. Soccer player
2. Doctor
3. Baseball player
4. Police officer
5. Civil servant
6. Teacher
7. Company employee
8. Scholar/researcher
9. Game developer
10 (tie). Pilot/engineer/programmer

Most desired future vocations for girls aged 6-15

1. Baker
2. Doctor
3. Teacher
4. Nurse
5. Civil servant
6. Police
7. Scholar/researcher
8. Fashion designer
9. Baseball player
10 (tie). Actor/company employee

The results also suggest a difference in ideal vocations between elementary and junior high students, with elementary-aged boys most wanting to be soccer players and junior high-aged boys wanting to be civil servants. Elementary-aged girls most aspire to be bakers, while junior-high aged girls want to be doctors. Also, the number of girls showing interest in becoming professional baseball players is interesting!

Overall, the results suggest a more grounded set of young people compared to previous years, with steady jobs such as teaching, police work, or civil servant work winning out over more individualistic and hard-to-attain dreams such as being actors, professional sports players or YouTube influencers.

Online response to the new poll suggests that adults approve of this shift:

“YouTuber is not a job, anyway.”
“It’s a good thing if ‘YouTuber’ becomes less popular. You need to make money to eat.”
“Looks like ‘YouTuber’ is just a fad of the times.”

Although some worried that the results show a lack of ambition amongst the youngsters:

“Why are there hardly any self-employed or self-made options?”
“It’s scary that such young kids today have to be so pragmatic and responsible.”
“Seems like kids lose all their dreams from the junior high school level…”

We’re interested to see what next year’s poll results will bring.

Source: Irorio via Jin
Featured image: Pakutaso