As a child of a non academic family, let me tell you that there certainly are some prejudices against ppl going to university and the "smart people". Obviously, hardly anyone is free of any prejudices, but will stay continue using that for this one:)
Over the years I have heard plenty of comments, ranging from "what do you guys actually do all day", "when will you start earning money", "what is what you can do in the end", "the guys coming out of university and then run teams have no idea how things are actually being done", "we started working when we were 16", ... you get the point.
And I agree with the concept of that university is a privilege. It's the main time in your life where you basically "only" need to figure yourself out/who you are and learn what you want to learn (ideally). The comparison when starting working at 16 - to what I've experienced - you are more likely to stick with the same company, are with someone in the same education/working setup, hence the person is also around from the area and you likely won't move anywhere else, continuing being roughly with the same people, not being exposed to a lot of new things giving and responsibilities like salary/paying for your own stuff/bills, family and a fixed time schedule with 8hrs of work start earlier.
There is a sense of "duty" that everyone needs to work. Granted, I am speaking about Germany, mainly Nuremberg which is a traditional German city in the south.
I feel massively grateful that my parents supported - well - pushed me to study and wanted me to have "something better". Whatever that means. They wanted doors to be open for me. Ok, they rather viewed it from a job market perspective which obviously is right. However, university and the associated experiences with studying abroad, meeting people from all educational/financial/status levels as well as culturally, having the time to wonder and try out multiple jobs and side projects is an amazing gift.
It helps so much to have the years to fall and not needing to perform, besides learning - which ideally should be in your best interest, since one is pushing you too (sometimes different, but usually it's your decision).
I am still having an inner fight when coming home and hearing some statements about education, politics or general view of the world of some of my family members. But on the other side, they didn't have the experience. I would still wish for some more balanced world views and openess, they might have never learned that or experienced that this is accepted/how things can work too.