Are Attitudes Toward Work Changing? A Note

Abstract

In response to recent claims that the young are "dropping out" of the work force this paper takes up the question of attitudes toward work. In doing so it offers a consideration of what "work" is widely understood to mean, considers that meaning in light of Robert Merton's analysis of societal expectations and the range of possible responses to them, and examines a variety of data (polls and other direct less indicators of attitude and activity) in an attempt to consider the actuality of that response. Ultimately it argues that conformity to traditional expectations regarding economic advancement may have suffered in the wake of the economic and socioeconomic setbacks of recent decades, among the young especially, and more broadly the population at large.

Keywords: Work, Work Culture, Societal Attitudes Toward Work, Social Values, Generation Gap, Millennials, Sociology, Robert Merton, Neoliberalism, U.S. Economic History (Post-1945), Social Withdrawal, Hikikomori