That’s the news that Choe Sang-Hun of the NY Times brings us from Korea. The social compact used to be simple. Parents would impoverish themselves to improve the earning power of their kids who would then return the favor by taking care of the parents. The article even contains the phrase “edu poor” to describe the parents who spent everything on cram schools and college tuition.
Alas, the kids aren’t always returning the favor and the parents are left to commit suicide in poverty shame, something that, at least according to the article, is happening more often. And maybe it is.
Will this come to the United States? Korea just set up their version of social security recently and many of the current generation of parents aren’t eligible putting them in this quandary. But the US is filled with parents who are draining their retirement savings or not filling it in the first place just so they can pay the tuition bills for junior. Will Junior repay the favor? We’ll find out in a few years.
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