When I grow up, I want to be...

According to the survey, 31 per cent children chose Sania Mirza as their favourite female sportsperson, while 21 per cent said they would like to grow up to be Sachin Tendulkar.

If your child was born between 1997 and 2015, rest assured that they are not likely to follow in your footsteps at least as far as career choices and social commitments are concerned.

A survey across Indian towns with a population of one million and above has revealed that children in the age group of 7-14 years in India consider Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sachin Tendulkar and Sania Mirza as their role models and prefer non-traditional careers over your dreams of seeing them as doctors, engineers and IAS officers.

According to the survey, 31 per cent children chose Sania Mirza as their favourite female sportsperson, while 21 per cent said they would like to grow up to be Sachin Tendulkar.

Interestingly, 20 per cent of both boys and girls said Salman Khan was their favourite male actor, while 11 per cent said Katrina Kaif was their favourite female actor.

The findings of the New Generations 2016 survey by Turner India, which runs a cartoon channel, are based on face-to-face interviews of 6,690 children and their parents.

Siddharth Jain, managing director, South Asia, Turner International India, said that children born between 1997 and 2015 are called “The Plurals” as they are willing to make new and different career choices, are more socially active and have higher spending power and world awareness.

The survey, which focused on the lifestyles, opinions, behavioural patterns and spending habits of children, also revealed that there’s increased influence of children in deciding what consumer durables their families purchase. The survey found that more than 50 per cent households were influenced by children while buying microwaves, washing machines, refrigerators and televisions, but that children had 10 per cent more traction when it came to buying mobile phones, cars and motorcycles.

Though 22 per cent of the children said they’d like to be doctors, followed by 21 per cent chosing engineering, about 16 per cent said that they’d prefer non-traditional careers like social work, becoming a dancer, singer, pilot, photographer, enterpreneur, scientist or artist. Only one per cent said they wanted to be join politics when they grew up.

At 97 per cent, television is the numero uno choice of “The Plurals” for information and entertainment, with newspapers at a decent second (49 per cent), followed by books (44 per cent).