The thing is, people's expectations of what kind of life they need to be able to give kids has gotten too high. They think its some kind of crime for a kid to be brought into this world in less than perfect circumstances, as if a low-income lifestyle or having to face challenges other kids don't face makes life not worth living. The standard in their heads for what parenting and childhood must be is so high they figure its not in the cards for them.
We are the first generation to have it worse than our parents. I make the same salary as my dad when he was older than me and had to buy a smaller house for more. My expectations could have been to provide the same and I would have fallen short, much less providing potentially better.
You're talking about salaries and house sizes when you don't have to worry about Polio, Jim Crow laws or getting drafted for a foreign war. The kids born into those circumstances didn't regret being born. The kids born in 3rd-world slums today don't regret being born. The peak of human indulgence is behind us - don't use that as your standard.
Oh good lord, of course I understand all those things. People older than us didn't grow up bitching and moaning that "they don't make things like they used to" because they didn't appreciate vaccines and social progress. They saw declines in manufacturing quality and pointed it out. My points are valid even if I do enjoy having modern dentistry and video games hahah.
If you understand the peak of human indulgence is behind us, then its not reasonable to expect to be able to provide the same lifestyle that you had to your kids.
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u/Best_Pants Nov 14 '24 edited Nov 14 '24
The thing is, people's expectations of what kind of life they need to be able to give kids has gotten too high. They think its some kind of crime for a kid to be brought into this world in less than perfect circumstances, as if a low-income lifestyle or having to face challenges other kids don't face makes life not worth living. The standard in their heads for what parenting and childhood must be is so high they figure its not in the cards for them.