My sister and I were born when my folks were in their late 20s. Our half siblings were born when my dad and his second wife were in their 40s. The kids have had smartphones from the age of like… 9–10, and in the last year, they’ve been to Disneyworld, on a ski trip, and on a Caribbean cruise. I still have a dumb clamshell phone, kind of out of stubbornness and also because it’s cheaper.
I think a lot of it is generational, because, like… who is better equipped to raise a bunch of kids? Someone in their 20s, or someone in their 40s? But a lot of the difference was also from my dad’s terrible second wife. When I left for college, she turned my bedroom into a storage room. After I dropped out, I stayed there for a couple weeks on an air mattress in the basement. (My sister and I were supposed to pay for college with cash from our mom’s life insurance policy, but it didn’t last.)
At that age, I had no clue how to get a student loan on my own. Being around my stepmom was so tense and uncomfortable; I felt harassed and beleagured pretty much all the time. Have you ever, like, involuntarily hunched over with tension, just from hearing someone’s footsteps on another floor? There was no way they would be co-signors for me, and I didn’t have any credit. So I started working retail and moved out right away. When my sister dropped out, they strongly encouraged her to join the military, where she still is today.
Things are a lot better nowadays. My sister and I are semi-successful young adults, and the kids are sweet, smart, and well-adjusted in spite of everything.