American parents are raising the next working class.

I’ve been wracking my brain for the real reason why our culture browbeats us into having kids, and I finally figured it out.

We’re supposed to raise the next working class. Our kids aren’t on track to become millionaires and billionaires. Nope, we’re raising the next generation of pediatricians and general practitioners. We’re raising the next wave of teachers and daycare workers, along with all the nurses and police officers and construction workers who are going to keep society running. Oh, and don’t forget the next consumers.

That’s why we had kids.

It’s a little disconcerting to realize your child’s future might already be written. We grew up in a country that promised us we could be anything we wanted as long as we worked hard and did well in school. Well, that didn’t exactly turn out the way we planned. The truth is more like this: you can be anything you want as long as your parents have enough money to send you to private school for ten years, and connections to get you an internship that turns into a lucrative job.

Most of us can barely pay our bills.

Everything is stacked against us.

If you’re a parent in the hot ashes of middle class America, it’s not hard to see a system designed to deplete your bank account and keep you in debt forever. Younger parents are supposed to be hitting our peak earning years. Instead, we’re lucky if we have a job at all. The price of houses and cars is skyrocketing again, not to mention groceries. Polls tell us the biggest fear among Americans isn’t terrorism, but medical debt.

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