Kids today...

"Kids today." Adults almost always grumble about the work ethic of the younger generation -- it will not surprise my children that I've been doing it since I was 30, when the 25 year-old newbies just out of law school were shocked and appalled that they had to work over Labor Day weekend because, well, the hearing was on Tuesday. Insufficient commitment and and what's to come of this and that all that jazz. Well, perhaps I was wrong then but now I'm right! According to the story at the link, actual data show that today's "kids today" are both more materialistic and less willing to work for their, er, stuff.

The fantasy gap

Compared to Baby Boomers graduating from high school in the 1970s, recent high school students are more materialistic — 62 percent of students surveyed in 2005-07 think it’s important to have a lot of money, while just 48 percent had the same belief in 1976-78.

Sixty-nine percent of recent high school graduates thought it was important to own a home, compared to just 55 percent in 1976-78. Materialism peaked in the 80s and 90s with Generation X and has continued to stay high.

As for work ethic, 39 percent of students surveyed in 2005-07 admitted they didn’t want to work hard, compared to only 25 percent in 1976-78.

I knew it!

The study purports to show a link between materialism among young people and the extent of advertising spending during their formative years. No doubt there is a correlation, but parents -- including those of my children -- made choices as well. The ugly truth is that those of us who are affluent, or perhaps only pretended to be, did our children no favors by indulging in that affluence before they were out of the house.

These things tend to be self-correcting, usually in some way that is painful for the generation that needs to learn the lesson. The smarter ones will resent their parents when they figure it out, sad to say.

CWCID: Regular reader "Jungle Trader".