[–] anoncastillo ago
The middle generation always cared for the children, but the older generation was always much smaller and typically died when they were no longer able to contribute enough to the family to be worth caring for. Today with human lifespans being so much longer than they used to be, we are overtaxing young people to care for the longest living generation in history while they can't afford to have kids. There are 1.5 times as many retirees per worker today as there were when medicare began and that's with a lot more women entering the workforce, often in caretaking jobs to help non-working people. It makes sense to invest in children because they're our future. It doesn't make sense to blow 1/3 of federal spending on our past.