Generation gap

“Young people today don’t want to work.” It’s a common refrain aimed at today’s millennial generation. But even in the 1930s, was questioning whether young people just wanted to coast through life.

The column “Youth Is Not a Profession,” which appeared in the June 1931 issue of the magazine, warned young people that they wouldn’t find success simply because of their youth. “Economic payments are given for economic service, and youth, for all its charm, is not in itself an economic qualification,” the column stated. The writer went on to say that youth is not an asset if it comes with traits like “discontent, slackness, indifference, and instability.”