I think this varies greatly by industry (maybe what I'm talking about is 20 years outdated). I know quite a few boomers who worked on their Masters / PhD while raising kids and working. From what I've been told it's because their careers were limited by their existing level of education. For example, most K-12 teachers get a pay boost by completing their Masters.

My career is software dev adjacent and I haven't seen college being a limiting factor.