Great article.
“LG: What did you find out? Why has achievement pressure reached such a fevered pitch?
JBW: I interviewed sociologists, historians, psychologists, economists to answer this very question. There are several reasons, but what resonated most are the macroeconomic forces at play. When I was growing up, life was generally more affordable. Real estate, health care, higher education — even groceries were more affordable. Parents felt reasonably assured that their kids could live a kind of zigzag life and still wind up okay.
Most children back then could replicate their parents’ childhoods and even end up better off financially. But today, nearly two-thirds of Americans no longer believe that’s the case. White middle-class children who were born in 1940 had a 90% chance of out-earning their parents. For children born in the ’80s, their chances of out-earning their parents fell by 50%. Today, Millennials on average have lower earnings and less wealth than past generations did at their age.”
#grownostr #parenting