What do you think parents want more for their children?
- Be happy in life
- Lead a healthy lifestyle
- Earn enough to enjoy a comfortable life
- Be successful in their career
- Fulfil their potential
According to a survey of over 5000 parents in 16 countries by banking great HSBC, 64% want happiness. Parents were asked to pick their top three, in rank order. HSBC then breaks it out by country:
Q: What are the three most important goals that you want your child to achieve as an adult?
More individualist socieites emphasized happiness. I personally am surprised to se China rank so high on lifestyle and so low on earning enough to have a comfortable life. Not sure what to make of this other than people in developing nations who have an HSBC bank account probably already have a comfortable life that they intend to pass onto their children. How does this compare to the UN Happy country index?
So ambition may not represent current reality, but hope can be a powerful motivator.