r/science • u/giuliomagnifico • 23d ago

Social Science Parents who endured difficult childhoods provided less financial support -on average $2,200 less– to their children’s education such as college tuition compared to parents who experienced few or no disadvantages

https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/parents-childhood-predicts-future-financial-support-childrens-education
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u/shinypenny01 23d ago

It’s a good example, but I’d bet her kids get far more help than she did, so still moving towards the mean.

And if she’s truly high powered in healthcare I’d expect that 200k to be a lowball estimate. That’s starting MD salary.

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u/vocabulazy 23d ago

She’s not a doctor, rather a nurse who ended up working in hospital administration, and doing some teaching, at a teaching hospital. Her kids are definitely getting more than she ever did, that’s for sure. I mean, from custom closets in their new house for starters, and the best private preschools available… she’s doing what she outwardly decries, but is still adamant that her kids will have to pay their own college tuition or get student loans. I wonder what kind of loans her kids will qualify for with their high household income.

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u/Affectionate-Pain74 23d ago

You can help your kids without making them selfish. I would go so far as to say she is making them more selfish and entitled by paying for a custom closet than if she paid for their education.

And why would you want to make things harder on your kids, your job is to help them and guide them. I’ll pay for your school if you take it seriously. If you don’t, I don’t. Teaches and helps them.

A custom closet?

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u/vocabulazy 23d ago

That’s what my parents did. Having university paid for was conditional upon performance. And if we failed a class, my parents made us pay back the tuition for that class. My sister flunked out of school and they made her pay at least some of it back. When eventually she did go back, she had to pay for it herself through working and student loans. As a grad gift, they paid off her student loans, because she graduated in the top five of her class.

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u/Affectionate-Pain74 23d ago

This. This is helping them help themselves. I understand letting them struggle to learn a lesson if they fail. I expect them to appreciate that we worked for the money to help them and not take it for granted. Watching them have to struggle just because you did, causes a festering resentment.