Worse for sure.

At my age, they were already married with kids and had enough to build a dream house in a decent town. Both had stable jobs that were considered good despite neither having a college degree.

I’m in a decent job that pays me (on paper) more money than my parents used to make, but I had to get my master’s degree to get here, and I’m still trying to pay off 8 years of student debt (though I’m getting closer each paycheck).

Between that, rent, and the sheer cost of everything these days, my partner and I are nowhere close to the point where we could afford a house, and we definitely could not afford to have even one kid, let alone three.

We’re at least not living paycheck to paycheck, but there have been industry layoffs left and right that have me feeling like any day could be my turn. I’d love to have more of a safety net in that situation, but there’s not all that much left over for us to put towards savings or retirement. Meanwhile, my parents are retired now, while I’m fully expecting to work until I die.

Edit: Forgot to clarify that this is the US, if the existence of student debt wasn’t already a giveaway.