Did going to college provide a way for you to jump up to a higher socioeconomic level? For my husband and I, and several people I know, it definitely pulled us up from poor backgrounds into solid middle class. We expect our daughter to have a 'better start' because of our educational level and our encouragement to go to college. We have a little bit we are tucking away, which is more than our parents did for us. I didn't realize until I did it, that I would be so happy in making that decision to save for her college.
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For me, that would be a no (mostly). I grew up in a upper middle class home. My dad is a nuclear engineer and my mom was/is a SAHM. We lived comfortably, but we were never really "spoiled."
In fact, I never realized exactly how fortunate we were until I was in college. My parents did a good job with providing for us, but not making my childhood too much different than kids with 2 teachers as parents...DH and I both are teachers. In my state, public school teachers start out at $30k and even after 20+ years of experience, salaries are rarely above $45k. I teach a public pre-k program, but since my job is located in a private center, my pay is even less. DH and I combined will make about half my dad's salary. I'm okay with this because 1) we both really enjoy teaching so it seems worth it and maybe 2) DH has expressed interest in becoming a principal in 5ish years. Even if he doesn't, we'll still be alright with our teacher pay.
My dad worked long hours and had to travel a lot when we were kids. With DH and I being teachers, we'll both be on the same schedule as our kids and that's huge for us. Right now, I'm 8w pregnant and the thought of being home with my baby after 3:00 most days makes me feel extremely lucky.
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I didn't vote because I don't think my answer neatly fits into either category. We are absolutely better off now than we were as kids, but much of this can be contributed to the fact that we are a two income family and we were both raised with just one parent working. If there was just one of us working, we would be more similar to how we grew up.
That being said, college will absolutely be something we will push. I am the first in my family to have a degree (I have two) and my husband didn't finish college and luckily hit the IT boom at the right time to have as good of a career as he has. I want my child to have every possible opportunity in life and I view college to be key to that.
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Going to college was pretty much a given in my family- my parents went, three of my grandparents went to college (and two of them went on to graduate degrees). That's even more so the case for DH's family; everyone in his parents' generation has a graduate degree.
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Although we have more money now than my parents did when we were growing up, it's not like it was a bad life. We lived on a farm and ate fresh veggies and steak all summer. The things we didn't have were the extras like the super trendy new clothes and vacations every summer. I think the majority of the difference is that we are more financially secure than my parents were when I was growing up.
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Well I grew up with two parents who had college degrees and are pretty well off. Right now I don't do as well as they were doing when I was little. But my parents didn't have me until they were 32 (mom) and 41 (dad). So when you consider my age hubs and I are on track to be equally as successful. My husband however, was raised middle class and neither of his parents have college degrees. He will definitely be more financially successful than his parents were.
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I grew up with two parents w no college degrees, small business owners that raised us in a middle class neighborhood. We are in a similar neighborhood now, but DH and I are both financially well off compared to our parents at our age.
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I grew up probably mid-to-upper middle class. Both my parents had college degrees, and my mom had a graduate degree. Their combine income may have been about the same as ours is, but where we live has a much higher cost of living. Hubs grew up solid middle class. Only his dad had a college degree and his mom was a SAHM. We definitely bring in more money than they did at our age, but again, we live in a higher cost of living area. So all in all, it probably just about evens out.
ETA: There was no doubt that I would go to college, and I assume it was the same for Hubs, although we've never talked about that. We both feel strongly that our LOs will attend some type of secondary education, whether it;s college, trade school, what have you. We are already looking into 529 plans to save for college.
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Going to college definitely helped of course. I have been working in my major field since I graduated. But like @chrispygal, I grew up in a single-parent household. Also, my mom was a teen mother so that extenuating circumstance also changed how I grew up. I think it was a combination of how my mom raised me as well as wanting a better life that helped me get to where I am today: married with a child and two incomes.
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My parents are upper middle class and were able to pay for my (and my two siblings) college and grad school. But unfortunately I didn't go for a degree that would get me a high paying job.
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We were middle class growing up, but my dad worked hard at his corporate job to get us there and stay there comfortably. His upbringing and strong work ethic encourages me to do the same in order to provide my future kids with the same experiences my parents provided me. It was invaluable.
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I think college itself didn't bump me up much since my degree was in education and teachers don't make much. When I went back to grad school, I gave me a big bump though.
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We are tracking to be about as well off as our parents (hopefully more). We both grew up very comfortable, all our parents graduated from college and most have some degree post college. There was never any question that we would each go to college, and we definitely wouldn't be where we are today without it. We were also both incredibly fortunate that our parents paid our college tuition, and plan to do the same for our kids. Graduating without thousands of dollars in student loan debt made the transition to adulthood much easier so I will move heaven and earth to do the same for our kids.
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It is nteresting to read about your perspectives and experiences. For us, we were the first to go to college among cousins and our families didn't expect nor provide college.. My mom and dad didn't to college but worked their way up their career ladder by the time I was out of college. So there are many ways to find yourself a living but I guess not having anyone provide help for our education, besides uncle Sam and financial aid,and then turning around and breaking the cycle of poverty by saving up for LO is so much more rewarding than I ever expected. Btw I'm a teacher and am doing pretty well financially, but I guess it is all relative.
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