As one of the younger generation, it's really interesting reading the "other side" of this. As one of the job seekers, it is very hard to find jobs willing to take someone with little to no experience and train them up, or jobs that allow you to have a better work-life balance than was popular twenty or thirty years ago, even if you're qualified for it. I don't mind work and when I'm employed somewhere, I do my best to make sure they get their money's worth or more from me - but I no longer want to work overtime, weekends, or holidays. When I was single, I was fine with working all three and worked all three regularly - but now I have way more important things to do with my limited time than make another couple of bucks.
Especially in the last two or three years, life has felt awfully precarious for us young people and I think that may be driving a shift away from spending time at work to spending time at home, even if family consists of a cat. Whether it's a comfort mechanism or just a sense of urgency to make memories with loved ones in case there isn't time later, I don't know. In a very real sense, it feels like the world is teetering on the edge of sanity and order and all it would take is one wrong step from any leader around the globe to plunge us all into chaos, all-out war, and a scramble for survival. I imagine it's a lot like what growing up in the shadow of nuclear threat felt like, so maybe every generation feels like this in young adulthood and my generation (and the next younger one) are choosing to react to it differently.
For me, personally, I feel a little like I'm living on borrowed time. I don't know how long I'll be able to hang on to my life as it is. One act of Congress, one war, one draft could take it away - and at this point, with all the "war and rumors of war", it feels like that time will be sooner rather than later. Maybe it's alarmist, but maybe it's not - and it's a lot harder to dismiss it when you stand to lose brothers and husbands. It makes you want to reach out with both hands and grab the important things in life - and make decisions you won't regret if the worst happens. I will never regret spending Saturdays laughing with and loving on my husband. If I lost him, I would very much regret spending every Saturday working for a few extra bucks.
All that said, there are plenty of people around my age that just want everything handed to them and not have to do much, if any, work for it. They've been told they were special throughout their entire childhood and they're left wondering where all their special perks have gone now that they're out in the real world, working entry-level office jobs or making chicken sandwiches. They want what their parents have, but they don't want to go through the struggle their parents did - and they want it now, not at age 40. They want the plushy job, the six figure salary, and the Lamborghinis they see on TV and social media, without any understanding of the sacrifices made to achieve those things or desire to do the research to understand that most of what they see is rented splendor, movie props, or ill-gotten gain. A lot of them have no concept as to the value of money and no knowledge of budgeting or smart financial decisions - and no respect for those who might be able to steer them towards financial freedom and success. They want their million dollars now, not in thirty years.
Some of it is entitlement, some of it is parents trying to give their children a way above the struggle they experienced. I think a lot of it is differing order of priorities - or maybe it's just a different way of whistling in the dark.
The last one was the day after got back from a show in Vegas. 
