The Insights Family predicts that online learning platforms will trump traditional, in-person teaching as adults learn new trades.
by NICK RICHARDSON, CEO, The Insights Family
The Insights Family launched its Future Forecast 2022 report, a look at predictions for 10 key trends to watch out for this year and throughout the course of this decade. One major trend to keep an eye on is how new methods of educating kids, parents, and families will impact businesses.
The events of the COVID-19 pandemic have caused many individuals to reevaluate their role in employment. As the cost of labor increases, businesses are much more likely to invest in automation in the coming years. This automation likely means that people will have to retrain within a different trade to find work in tomorrow’s economy.
Globally, more than one in 10 parents are concerned about employment opportunities. In the U.S., where manufacturing moved to China a long time ago, concerns over employment have increased 87% from July to October 2021. In Spain, which has historically had a manufacturing economy and where the automotive industry is one of the largest employers, concerns over automating jobs have grown 32%.
As the world continues to adjust to life in a pandemic, families have become increasingly concerned about money. Understandably, family finances are at the forefront of parents’ concerns. Globally, the economy ranks as the third-highest concern, while finances and money rank just behind. Concerns over money among parents globally have increased at an average rate of 27% since the beginning of 2021. However, the pandemic also presented an enormous opportunity to parents to enable them to retrain for another role. According to our research, 96% of parents worldwide state that they like to learn new things.
With more information available to us than ever before, opportunities for retraining or upskilling more broadly have never been more convenient. In addition to physical institutions like universities and evening classes, the online world has ushered in educational settings that can be tailored around the individual with tools such as YouTube and other online courses. Already, an average of 45% of parents globally believe that the future of education is online.
We are likely to see a growth in parental participation in massive open online courses and completing degrees from online universities, in addition to parents using free online resources to retrain themselves for employment opportunities today and in the future.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
This generation of kids, parents, and families will no longer follow traditional methods of education.
As career opportunities present themselves in digital industries, it is highly likely that parents retraining for these technologically advanced roles will be learning similar skills to those that their kids are being taught. Family-based educational pursuits will become even more crucial as we move into the future. We will see a growth in the number of learning experiences curated around educating the entirety of the family unit.
We are likely to see more possibilities for businesses to develop products for educational programs. When designing a new toy or an edutainment platform to engage consumers, brands also need to think about how to increase parental interest, therefore creating a platform or product that benefits the whole family.
To find out more predictions from the Future Forecast 2022 report and discover trends from The Insight Family, visit try.theinsightsfamily.com/toybook.
