The many economic decisions an individual makes early in his or her working life – their first job, how much and what kind of an educational investment to make, how to finance that investment, whether to strike out on their own, and whether to rent or buy a home – can have a lasting effect on their subsequent financial security and the economic foundation they provide for their children.
There are times, however, when larger forces materially interrupt or impede the individual efforts of young people to build a better economic life. The Great Depression left an indelible imprint on the generation that came of age in that era, influencing their subsequent job trajectories and attitudes toward risk and investment.