Since the standard of living has improved, it is easier for parents nowadays to meet their children’s fundamental needs of life. However, I agree that modern families now suffer from more stressors and challenges, and they are under the double burden of material and spiritual anxieties in recent years.

Firstly, in terms of objects, education has increasingly become a massive expense in bringing up a child. Modern families in China are trying their best to give all the advantages they could to increase their children’s chances of going to a better college. For example, many of them would like to take some refresher courses for their kids, or buy houses that are nearby the school or even let kids attend private high schools.

All these happen because money and resources that go into education might help their children enhance academic performance. Children have taken a step closer to the college of their choices by having better access to college entrance exams. However, all these costs are confined to today’s parents, and therefore, they create more anxieties from crippling demands for those substances. Whereas, parents in the past with no preconceived notions about this type of education may have never been in this hardship.

Secondly, parents also have mental stresses apart from physical pressures. If they pay more attention to their work, it is hard to focus more on binding with their kids, especially when education outcomes have now turned into an essential part in raising a kid. For instance, one of the core topics when adults gather together is about their children. Parents would be proud of their great children and ashamed of kids who misbehave. Kids are now identified as mirrors of how they are raised and what kind of people their parents are, so to some extent, the success of a child has become a spiritual aspiration, as well as a burden of parents.

Some might believe there will be fewer burdens on parents if they only have one or two children, but the time and effort they dedicate for one kid today will be many times more than three kids before. In summary, I think it is harder for parents to raise children now than 50 years ago.