When Financial Independence Isn’t Always the Goal

Many Iranian Americans say their families place a high premium on education — sometimes at the expense of early financial independence — potentially complicating their financial futures.

In the summer of 1996, when I was 16, some of my friends found jobs at our local mall in Jacksonville, Fla. We all came from upper-middle-class families, so working was about building character and earning spending money, not because of financial necessity.

I loved music, so I floated the idea of working at Blockbuster Music, a now-defunct record store, while riding in the car with my mother, an Iranian immigrant. When she heard this, she pulled off the road, parked the car and angrily lectured me.

My mother said I should instead pursue internships and other activities that would support my studies and career goals, not distract from them. Making money wasn’t important yet.

Shellshocked, I dropped the subject. My Iranian mother’s ideas about the way the world worked often clashed with my American upbringing.

For my mother, and many Iranian parents with means, this trade-off is worth it. But if education does not translate into a well-paying job — as my Ph.D. in English literature doesn’t — their children can find themselves stigmatized by prolonged financial dependence.

She attributes her desire to support me not just to our family history but to Iranian culture in general. “This is my child,” she said. “I have money. And then, as long as I am alive, I am responsible.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/02/business/iranian-americans-education-money.html