Looking at Work Differently

My wife and I completed our stint as a two career couple, the first generation in which that became the norm.  Certainly my childhood friends had mothers who were teachers, either full-time or substitute, but for the most part dad worked, mom did things related to house and kids.  Perhaps around my college years cost of housing or food started to rise, so much so that the President imposed a ninety-day moratorium on most price increases by Executive Order.  At about the same time women's aspirations for their lives after college began to include lucrative career options.  Having a second substantial income added immensely to what married couples to do financially, from raising families even with the fairly high cost of child care, to purchasing houses, to travel, to savings for when the income would get interrupted either through job loss or retirement.  Those jobs, or really two jobs, became a highest priority asset, protected in every way, mostly by diligence when performing them.  Vacation was allotted, more than really needed from an American mindset, though the Europeans might disagree.  Retirement plans were funded to the max.  The good times would not last forever.  And so with the first job change, I got paid for unused vacation, with a second reimbursement for unused time after retirement.  Not a lot of money.  I saved the time more for security, should illness strike, which it didn't.  I also afforded myself what I thought I needed as a work respite, though not more.

My children now have responsible jobs too.  They seem much more casual with them, extracting their entitlements right now.  My son has gone overseas his first year and will be taking a six-week stretch away from the job in the coming month, combining three weeks of vacation for the closing year with three weeks in the new year.  My daughter, less bound by appointment schedules, also heads off frequently.  While they don't have childcare expenses, and I presume are diligent with retirement plan deductions, they seem more focused on their recreation than my wife and I were.  I don't think I missed out on anything important by rationing my allotted time off, often actually preferring the satisfaction that my professional obligations generated.  Perhaps the millennials like my children prioritize differently.  They can expect to reach their closing years with less financial securities, though perhaps with a greater inventory of fond memories.