Depends on the socioeconomic status you come from. In my experience, it's "fewer jobs = ... Working class, immigrants, and service jobs: "kids leave school to

Depends on the socioeconomic status you come from. In my experience, it's "fewer jobs = ... Working class, immigrants, and service jobs: "kids leave school to support the family" Middle class: "kids work their ass off at school so that they're one of the few to get a job (and failing that, move back into the parent's basement until the job situation improves)" Upper middle class: "kids go to grad school, law school, or med school to wait out the poor economy and come out with a good credential afterwards" Wealthy: "kids call up their daddy's wealthy private equity friend and get funding to buy up a struggling small company, fire half the workforce, goose the profits, and unload it on the public markets before anyone realizes that the business's core function isn't functioning anymore." I've met all of the above, and definitely know a lot of folks that went to law school because they weren't sure they could get a job upon graduation. (Although a more common reason for that is that they don't know what they want to do...law school is a really attractive option for liberal arts grads whose coursework doesn't really line up with anything that makes money.)