>> Maybe for people <30. Priorities change very fast, as you age.

This.

I read here on HN some time ago an article stating that teenager-ish people crave to find "meaning" in work due to being what in essence can be described as emotionally retarded (although intellectually normal). This all changes fast as they age and/or have kids or other inevitable live event that manages to pull their head out of their ass.

Basically Mark Twain's "When I was 17, my father was so stoopid" remark.

I think it's more to do with the fact that a teenager wants to break free from their family and start working as an adult. They've never worked before in a "career" (most of them). So it's new and exciting.

Then once they reach about 30 they realize family is what mattered the most, work is just a means to an end most of the time and it's really hard to make your "mark" on the world. Why not make your mark in a smaller way that's more guaranteed? By being there for family and friends