h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

ach, posted too soon

In summary,
Education is not just 'one among a few other things that make a generation well off'
It is the enabling force.

As you point out Rod education, important though it is, is only part of the economy and an expensive part at that. Other parts of the economy must provide the money that enables educational needs to be met. For the most part higher education can be seen as a luxury and only becomes part of the real world when it is linked to research. The difference between education and training needs to be recognised. Recent proposals seem to be turning the clock back recognising that without 'indians' you don't need 'chiefs'.
Are you saying that today's children will not enjoy a better standard of life than their parents because the education system is failing them, being incapable of keeping up with the times ?

"Are you saying that today's children will not enjoy a better standard of life than their parents because the education system is failing them, being incapable of keeping up with the times ? "

That's an interesting question...

My parents are both very intelligent, and could have gone to university, but neither of them could really afford it so both were encouraged by their parents to get jobs instead. As a result, when they met each other, their combined incomes meant they became well off in the sense of having what they needed and wanted and being able to save as well.

It later meant that I was able to afford to go to university and I gained the qualifications that my parents had not had the opportunity to obtain, so in that sense I am more well off than my parents. However, I am not yet on what is called a "graduate salary" so in that sense I am not as well off as my parents, but I am equally as well off in the sense that I have what I need and want and am able to save as well.

That's life SashaQ - It seems that your parents lived in a time when it was becoming necessary for both parents to work to maintain a family life. Did your parents have a better standard of life than your grandparents and can you see the children of your generation having a better standard of life than you ?

My parents definitely went on to have a better standard of living than their parents - they didn't have much in their youth, although they had what they needed and some of what they wanted, but my grandparents didn't always have what they needed in their youth (sometimes life was very hard for them...).

I don't have much knowledge of children today, so I can't really say whether they have (and will have) what they need and want (and their wants will be different from mine, as mine are different from my parents and so on).

Very thought provoking

Glad you find it so. Keep thinking and best of luck.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25411181

Be positive.
Live life to the fullest.