One important cause of the generation gap is the opportunity that young people have to choose their own life-styles. In more traditional societies, when children grow up, they are expected to live in the same area as their parents, to marry people that their parents know and approve of, and often to continue the family occupation. In our society, young people often travel great distances for their educations, move out of the family home at an early age, marry or live with people whom their parents have never met, and choose occupations different from those of their parents.