maybe the older generation can't accept the fact that you can
actually earn money by working less.
There you go!
My mom is 'modern' by her generation standards and in certain
ways, she's sometimes more 'modern' than I am! 
But, she's also fixated on the idea that you must 'work hard',
ie. don't see you around so much because you're 'too busy', to earn
a living. When I declared to her that I work only six days a
fortnight now, she panicked and asked if I was being retrenched,
will I get into 'trouble' in the workplace, etc. One day, she
even slip-of-the-tongue commented, "How come you're so lazy?!
Next time lose job, how?" 
I had to tell her, "MOM!!! EVERYONE
in my dept does that!! We work 12-hr shifts so we meet the
fortnightly contracted working hours faster!"
Somehow, till today, I don't think she has grasped the idea ...
yet. She still keeps telling me, "Don't send money home,
ah! I think you need it more than we do!" thinking that I
must be in some kind of 'trouble' at work, that's why boss don't
want me to work so much!
Aaaaah harharhar!!
