And lo, the Nativity ox later earned £43k

EVERY parent secretly wants their child to have a starring role in the school nativity play. But it turns out that if you’d like your little one to be a top earner in later life, the ox is the part to bag.

Research suggests that the character a youngster plays in their Christmas production could be a telling indicator of their future prospects.

A study of 2,000 British adults found a host of traits in adult life which directly correlate to the events around the manger in Christmas assemblies all those years earlier.

While Mary and Joseph fittingly go on to enjoy more than their fair share of happiness, there are surprising results for those who played an ox.

They emerged as the highest earners, with an average salary of £43,000 a year – twice that of a lamb or sheep on £20,000.

The study found those who landed the plum role of Mary are most likely to have the biggest social media following, a staggering 1,503, in contrast to shepherds (a humble 638 followers on average).

Marys are also the most likely to be truly content in their adult life, with 92 per cent of those who played the main part saying they are now happy with their lot, with Josephs second at 91 per cent.

Josephs are also likely to have a high number of social media followers (1,233) and will most likely end up working in finance or banking.

Former angels are most likely to end up in a modest role within the healthcare industry, earning an average of £25,000. But the Angel Gabriel will earn almost double, a £40,000 salary on average – with a whopping 1,297 social media followers.

The study, by Virgin Media to mark their Christmas Stars competition, found that those who didn’t get cast in a main role had mixed reactions to their casting. Some 33 per cent said they would have hated the attention. However, nine per cent said they had secretly wished one of the lead actors had fallen ill so they could step in.

Celebrities recently reflected on the parts they played. TV presenter Sue Perkins said she was upset to play a sheep, so spent ‘the rest of my life showing off... to compensate’.

Warwick Davis played the Baby Jesus and Oscar-winning actor Jim Broadbent said his innkeeper won praise for making his own ‘Eaaak’ noise when opening the stable door.