When children around the world were asked what their dream job would be, almost half the 10-12-year-olds in the developing world said they'd be teachers or doctors. In developed countries, however, almost half of the 10-12-year-olds said they'd be professional athletes, actors, singers, or fashion designers.

That was just one of the findings in the second annual Small Voices, Big Dreams survey conducted by Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC) and its affiliates in ChildFund Alliance, a network of 12 child development organizations that help children in developing countries. A total of 4,592 children (10-12-year olds) in 44 countries – from Afghanistan to Canada to Zambia - were asked six open-ended questions about their dreams, fears, and pastimes. The Ipsos Observer compiled the results and found that children were largely optimistic about their future and yet concerned about crime, disease, hunger and violence.

[A summary of survey results can be found at the end of this document.]

When asked what their top priority would be as prime minister or leader of their country to help improve the lives of children, half (49.3%) of all children in the developing world say they would improve their nation's schools.  The response was four times higher than "provide more food," which placed second at 10.5%, followed by "improve healthcare" at 8.9%. 

If they could grow up to be anything they wanted, almost one in two children is focused on a career requiring a college education.  One fifth (22.5%) of the respondents say they want to be teachers, while a comparable number (20.2%) are interested in becoming doctors. Another 5.8% want to pursue professional careers, such as attorneys and accountants. The responses contrast with the children's counterparts within developed nations where just 9.4% and 8.2% aspire to be teachers and doctors, respectively. The top answers in the developed world: professional athlete 20.1%) and artist (21.1%), which includes singer, actor and designer.  

"In developed countries, countless reality shows and recruitment agencies mean that children may be able to have their dreams realized by turning a recreational activity, talent, or skillset into a profitable career," says Mark Lukowski, CEO, CCFC. "But children who grow up in poverty see the influencers in their own communities - doctors and teachers – and strive to be just like them."
           
Children's Health and Safety

Reflecting the dangers of the world around them, most children in developing countries said they felt safest at home or with their parents/family (83.4%) similar to children in developed countries (91%). When asked how, as prime minister/leader, they would better protect children, 43.1% of children from developing countries said they would improve their country's safety and security, mostly by doing a better job at arresting and prosecuting criminals and growing the size of the police force, similar to children from developed countries (46.6%).

Children's biggest health-related concern is getting sick or contracting a disease, which was cited by 22.9% of respondents in developing countries.  Another 14.4% are worried about poverty and hunger, while a similar number (14%) are concerned about war/terror/violence. 

By contrast, only 9.8% of children from developed countries say they are worried about disease or illness.  The number one health and safety concern among children from developed countries was being hungry or living in poverty, cited by 17%.

Let's Play

Given a free day to do whatever they wanted, 19% said they would play with friends, with another 11.6% saying they would play football/soccer.  Another 16.7% said they would spend their free day either studying or doing their homework, and 13.4% would do their chores or housework.  By contrast, just 2.1% of children in developed countries would opt for studying and 0.4% would do housework. Almost one in 10 (9.7%) children in developed countries said they would play computer or video games.

"The survey results show us that if children in developed countries had a free day to do whatever they wanted, they would not spend it studying or doing chores," says Lukowski. "But many children in the countries where we work are struggling to make it to the next day so they would spend it on an activity that might help their entire family."

"But kids are kids and the fact that almost one in three children would spend a free day playing is certainly consistent with what we know about the value of play."

This year marks the second year in which ChildFund Alliance has worked with Ipsos Observer on the survey, one of the most comprehensive global research projects into children's perspectives anywhere in the world.  
"The Small Voices, Big Dreams survey gives a voice to thousands of children whose insights are so often muted by the world around them," says Lukowski. "The results will help all the organizations in ChildFund Alliance to validate our priorities, enhance our programs, and ultimately improve life for children and their families.

The 44 countries that participated in the survey were:

AFRICA	AMERICAS	ASIA	DEVELOPED
Angola	Bolivia	Afghanistan	Australia
Benin	Brazil	India	Canada
Burkina Faso	Dominica & St. Vincent	Indonesia	Denmark
Cape Verde	Ecuador	Laos	Ireland
Ethiopia	Guatemala	Mongolia	South Korea
Ghana	Honduras	Philippines	New Zealand
Guinea	Mexico	Sri Lanka	Sweden
Kenya	Nicaragua	Thailand	United States
Liberia	Paraguay	Timor Leste
Mali		Vietnam
Mozambique
Senegal
Sierra Leone
The Gambia
Togo
Uganda
Zambia

 

About the Small Voices/Big Dreams Survey
The Small Voices/Big Dreams Survey was undertaken by ChildFund Alliance from July through September 2011.  Identical six-question surveys were administered on a one-on-one basis by ChildFund staff to approximately 100 children ages 10 to 12 in 36 developing nations in Africa, Asia and the Americas as well as 8 developed nations who participate in ChildFund programs.  A total of 4,592 children were surveyed, which includes 3,613 children in developing countries and 979 children in developed nations.  (All six questions were open-ended, meaning the children were not given a list of answers from which to choose.)  ChildFund translated and submitted the results to Ipsos Observer, a global research firm, which tabulated and compiled the results.  The margins of error, at 95% confidence, are: total surveys (+/- 1.4%), developing countries (+/- 1.6%), and developed countries (+/- 3.1%). 

About Christian Children's Fund of Canada and ChildFund Alliance
For more than 50 years, Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC) has helped children and families of all faiths break the cycle of extreme poverty around the world. CCFC is a member of ChildFund Alliance, a network of 12 child development organizations whose work encompasses more than 15 million children and their families in 58 countries.  With a focus on child-centered development programs that are undertaken in partnership with more than 1,400 local communities, the Alliance puts more than $500 million (CAD) to work each year to help deprived, excluded and vulnerable children. 

About Ipsos Observer
Founded in Paris, France, in 1975, Ipsos is the only independent, publicly-listed research company that is controlled and managed by research professionals. Ipsos is the sixth largest global research company focusing on six core specializations: Advertising, Marketing, Media, Opinion and Customer Relationship Management, and Data Collection and Delivery. With offices in 80 countries, Ipsos conducts research in more than 100 countries. Working both on a global scale and in local markets, our expert teams give our clients the benefit of high value-added business solutions including qualitative, forecasting, modeling, market knowledge and consumer insights.

Summary of Survey Results

Question	All Developing	Africa	Americas	Asia	Developed	Canada
What would you do as president [leader] to improve children's lives?
Improve education	49.3%	52.4%	33.5%	49.7%	25.7%	22.5%
Make more food available	10.5	13.0	14.2	6.2	13.1	16.9
Improve healthcare	8.9	14.8	5.1	3.1	4.1	3.8
Support/protect them	7.7	4.0	9.4	10.9	8.3	12.5
Provide shelter	7.2	4.8	12.2	5.5	7.2	11.3
Provide parks and recreation	6.5	7.0	6.9	5.9	8.2	7.5
Improve safety/security	5.5	3.0	10.5	6.1	9.8	8.1
Provide clothing	3.8	2.9	4.6	3.4	1.9	3.1
If you could grow up to be anything you wanted, what would you be?
Teacher	22.5%	23.2%	18.0%	20.5%	9.4%	10.0%
Doctor	20.2	20.1	20.5	15.7	8.2	16.3
Police	7.4	4.8	8.4	8.9	4.5	4.4
Service industry	6.1	7.9	6.3	6.1	11.0	6.9
Professional	5.8	4.9	10.8	4.4	10.3	14.4
Professional athlete	4.7	2.9	9.7	9.0	20.1	14.4
Construction	3.8	3.5	3.7	3.6	2.2	3.1
Arts	3.1	1.9	7.0	8.0	21.1	25.0
If you could spend the day doing anything you wanted, what would you do?
Play/visit with friends	19.0%	11.4%	24.7%	23.3%	18.7%	15.7%
Study/homework	16.7	11.3	14.6	18.7	2.1	1.3
Housework	13.4	16.0	3.7	13.5	0.4	0.6
Play soccer/football	11.6	14.8	11.6	5.2	6.7	2.5
Read	8.3	10.8	5.4	6.2	3.3	6.9
Farm work/visit farm	4.9	6.0	0.6	5.4	0.8	-
Volunteer	4.1	1.8	4.5	6.2	4.1	5.6
Games/computer-video games	3.3	4.8	5.3	3.6	9.7	20.0
Travel	2.0	0.6	4.2	5.0	11.4	11.3
Where do you feel safest?
At home	61.4%	47.9%	78.7%	64.1%	67.0%	73.8%
With parents/family	22.0	29.7	17.2	17.8	24.0	19.4
In village/town	3.9	4.0	2.3	3.6	0.1	-
When you think about staying safe and healthy every day, what is the one thing you worry about most?
Disease/illness	22.9%	21.9%	28.5%	13.5%	9.8%	10.0%
Hunger/poverty/ nutrition	14.4	16.2	15.6	12.5	17.0	18.1
War/terror/violence	14.0	15.3	14.3	13.3	15.4	21.9
Criminals/bad people/others	9.1	6.1	14.0	10.0	12.7	9.4
Insufficient/ inadequate education	6.8	9.6	2.7	6.7	3.6	0.6
Health/hygiene	4.0	4.7	5.3	4.6	8.6	10.6
If you were the president [leader] of your country, what is the one thing you would do to protect children?
Better safety/security	43.1%	39.1%	54.9%	41.0%	46.6%	45.0%
Improve support/awareness	25.4	24.5	21.1	26.8	18.6	11.9
Enact new laws	23.6	25.2	19.0	26.8	23.7	33.1
Improve education	10.1	11.5	8.1	8.6	5.8	3.1

 

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Philip Maher Communications Director Direct: 905-754-1015 Cell: 416-454-1620 Toll-free: 1-800-263-5437 pmaher@ccfcanada.ca

Melissa Yue Communications Officer Phone: 905-754-1010 ext. 220 Toll-free: 1-800-263-5437 myue@ccfcanada.ca