Why Do People Work? The Purpose Of Careers Explained For Kids

Growing up, one of the most common questions that we often get asked or ask is 'what do you want to become when you grow up?'

This question mostly leads to our decisions regarding our future plans and most importantly, one's career. There are many reasons why people choose to work and many of them are quite common.

Firefighters, astronauts, accountants, engineers, and so on are considered to be career dreams of many when they are young.

We live in a world where the majority of workers work to earn money, meet their needs, and make their life easier.

Data shows that most people work to get paid to meet their daily needs, be of value to society, gain social status, stay financially independent, support themselves and their families, and have a purpose that motivates them to wake up every day.

Work is a crucial part of our lives and it is an important feature in structuring our social and personal identity, to meet our financial needs, to avail service, self-confidence, and for our physical and mental well-being.

Many individuals highly agree that the process of seeking a job is quite a challenge and it can be quite draining, but it is always rewarding once you get employed.

The lifecycle of an individual mostly consists of pursuing a career and getting a job, waking up early in the morning, going to work, work on the assigned tasks of the day, return home, spend time with family, or do things they enjoy.

This cycle is continuous and often repeats in one's life. Some people often retire early to give them more time to spend doing their hobby and have a relaxing life, a different pace of life from stressful jobs with high pressure.

But for some, they prefer to work their entire life to keep themselves engaged.

You cannot expect to afford food and other basic needs for yourself by staying idle at home. An employed individual can access those services and additional benefits when working.

It is in our human nature to work for many reasons.

Reasons for working can be personal or it may completely be for social reasons.

According to research data, not all employees work just for the sake of earning money, but for several other reasons. Sometimes, people choose to set their career in specific job roles to make a difference in society, while others follow their passion, even if it means they may not earn as much as they can.

Many people go to work to stay busy and engaged in something useful, instead of sitting on the couch all day long. This mostly applies to older people who have already worked their whole life and seem to need nothing else but engagement in some creative job role.

One example of people working for social reasons would be those working among NGOs, simply because they want to make a positive change.

Many people believe that a workplace is a place where you can showcase all the skills that you have learned alongside your education.

Apart from the purpose to stay engaged, earn money, and status, working at a great and friendly workplace where your skills and presence is appreciated is one of the reasons why we should work.

It is also a place where you can find good friends with great skills who you can work alongside and learn from. A workplace is much more than a business since employees could find satisfaction, skill development, diverse culture, and learn many new things which are beneficial for one's overall development.

In other words, working can enhance your ability to generate ideas and be more satisfied.

However, you cannot ignore the fact that 85% of us humans across the world, work to gain something from it, and pay is one of the factors among them.

If you learned something from this factual article, you can also check out why do cells divide and why do your ears pop.

Why do people work hard?

Every job requires a hard-working individual who is dedicated and passionate about their assigned job role for the benefit of the company and for themselves.

Employees in a certain company generally work hard and stay committed to their job because of future rewards like promotions, pay raises, or vacations deals.

You may work together on certain projects and meet the goals of their company's business need as a team or even individually to meet certain targets. Apart from hitting deadlines and targets, many top companies offer rewards at the successful completion of certain projects so that employees can work hard and spend more hours on them.

People feel a sense of passion at their work and thereby spend their day helping and contributing to moving their workplace ahead with the help of teamwork or at the individual level.

Other things that can encourage employees to work hard are the facilities offered by the place of work which may include free snacks, flexible schedules, paid leave, and free healthcare.

Many people believe that working hard is the way to earn the trust of their employees and it can also contribute to self-confidence and help them be independent. Over the past years, many jobs have been created for the purpose of business and to generate employment services to people.

Jobs have been generated by various sectors, including the corporate sector, boutique companies, governmental organizations, and education institutions where people with certain skills could work and earn money for a living.

Once an individual gets employed, they are committed to do their part and contribute to the company they work at.

In such cases, many organizations or companies offer incentives, bonuses, or promotions to those who work hard and deliver their job duties on time. This causes people to work hard due to its rewarding experience in the future.

Apart from rewards and promotion, people who love their job tend to work hard for their satisfaction, to improve and gain more skills, to maintain their performance, and generate new ideas.

However, every individual believes that hard work will help them get ahead in life and improve them as a team member in their job.

Even if your present job is not fulfilling your career purpose, doing your best to fit in and learn new skills from it will help an individual to gain a sense of motivation and accomplishment, which can only be achieved through hard work.

In research conducted, 60% of people were known to spend 8-12 hours a day in their office because they find their work worth it.

While 40% of them worked overtime for significant rewards.

Why do most people work?

It is no wonder why most people choose to work and stay employed. Of course, one of the common reasons most people work is simple and easy.

People work to earn money so they can afford food, rent, daily expenses, access to services like healthcare benefits and membership to certain places. Many also work to cater to their family and provide a good education for their kids. Work is necessary to meet your physical and mental needs for efficient survival.

It is good for our soul to have be engaged in something that highly interests us while being rewarded from time to time. The ability to work is perceived as a blessing by most people.

Work is also a type of recognition, which can also build a sense of pride and confidence in oneself.

Knowing the expectations of loyalty and commitment from the organization you work at, also gives an individual a sense of integrity, being ethical, adjusting to pressure environment, making independent decisions, effectively managing times, and being productive at all times.

Satisfaction, gaining new skills, and learning or exposure to new things could be the basic reasons why most people pursue a job.

The perspective on why most people choose to work can be broken down into two kinds, social and personal.

In terms of social, you pursue a particular path of career or job to have recognition in your society since most people often show respect to people who are employed, compared to those who aren't.

In the case of personal perspective, most people go to work for basic reasons including to earn money and pay for their daily needs. Even though many people work, the process of finding a job that matches their skills and interests is quite harsh in reality.

This is also why people tend to work hard in order to maintain their job.

Benefits of working?

There are endless benefits that come along with working. On a personal level, the psychological needs that one achieves through work can help an individual make a better decision about what they want to do with their own lives. It is highly beneficial for our soul and to understand our purpose in life.

Working is beneficial for our psychological and other needs. It gives an individual something to look forward to every day. Here is a list of several benefits that you can feel when working.

Personal identity: Working can help you maintain your worth and gain a positive identity. This is often found to be true among individuals working at a larger firm with great recognition, and also to people who pursue their careers at a company or organization where their skills are appreciated.

Identity is an essential factor that can shape your definition of who you are as an individual being.

Regular paycheck: Even though most people often think that 'it's not about the pay but the work that I truly enjoy', everyone expects some form of reward for their hard work.

A regular paycheck is something that motivates an individual to work hard and cater to a company like theirs. Money is what we need for our survival, to buy food, clothing, pay rent, and to have a great social life.

You no longer need to worry about having to meet your daily needs and you can maintain a lifestyle for yourself.

Learn new skills: Work can wake creative ideas in an individual and also help them learn new skills that cannot be found anywhere else. These skills can help you grow in life and equip you to become an asset to the company or organization. It helps you hone your skills and create or learn new ones.

Meet new people and make friends: In a busy world, it is quite difficult to find people to associate with. A workplace can be a great setting to make acquaintances and connect with people that you work with. It can also help an individual to socialize and work together efficiently with workmates.

Self-confidence: Having a place where you belong, regular paycheck, creative environment, recognition in your community, work-life balance, and many other factors attribute to gain self-confidence. Making your life better by working can also help make other people's lives better in a significant way.

From a much broader perspective, by working, an individual is also contributing to the greater good because part of their paycheck goes towards taxes, which indirectly provides social services to the improvements of schools, hospitals and roads. Because of the greater population workforce, our society, community, country, and the world as a whole are surviving.

Therefore, research data shows that working is not only beneficial at a personal level but also good for the global economy.

Reasons why people work?

There are tons of reasons why people choose to work and become employed. It is quite a challenge for an adult to survive without working. The purpose of work is similar for most people. Some of those reasons are:

Earn money: Every adult, or even kids these days, aims to live without having to worry about money. In simple terms, people generally work to make money for food, rent, access to services, save for future needs, and afford healthcare.

Our lives run with the help of money. Therefore, regular paychecks are one of the reasons people choose to work.

Independence: Independence refers to the state of being firm and stable on our own, without the need for anyone else, both financially or mentally. It is the power to have control in your own life without the need for others to do so.

Today, financial independence and personal independence are necessary to live a satisfying life. Gaining more skills, learning new things, making acquaintances, and being able to afford most of the things you need can be met when you are working.

Community services: Most people also work to serve their community and be part of it. This means that working does not only mean about yourself, but it also lets you help others.

For instance, an individual who is working at an office in mail delivery is helping the office save time and get important stuff done. These are the little things where the workforce is appreciated. Even though they get paid for their work, an individual's contribution at work is beneficial to many, directly or indirectly.

Apart from these, having a contribution to the world feels good to most people and it's not always about the rewards, but other simple factors that encourage people to work. Career goals play an important role to attain a job role, especially for kids who are yet to pursue their dreams.

Therefore, it is important to choose and plan a career that will bring out the best in you, help you utilize your skillsets and learn new ones, and encourage you to work hard.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for why do people work, then why not take a look at why do boats float or why do people dance?