In terms of "financial legacy" I think we haven't quite seen the full impact of all these divorces in America yet.
Children emulate what they see everyday. If parents smoke, there are stronger odds the children will grow up to smoke. Parent is a single parent, there is a decent chance the daughter will grow up to be a single mother herself. If parents stress money management the right way, good chance the child will grow to see money in a healthy way. If parents are always fighting about money, yelling about money, destroying each other about money, there theres a decent chance the child will have alot of stigmas and shame and pain that comes with money.
We all know marriage rates and birth rates are down. Children have grown up from divorced families and said "Hey screw this, I grew up with that mess and since its a 50-60 percent chance I'll get whacked in a divorce myself, just forget about it" Oddly enough, I know many women now, not as many as men, but more women than I'd imagine who are not all that thrilled about the idea of marriage. Does marriage punish the male more often when it falls apart? Yes. But marriage also punishes the person with money too. Divorce is a cash cow and greed often knows no gender when it steamrolls people. So there are wealthy women out there getting hosed too, they just get hosed in such small small numbers, no one hears about them.
I think it's a little disconcerting to think there's a whole generation of kids growing up and equate Needing Money = Make A Phone Call To Divorced Daddy Living On Buddies Couch And Nagging Him Incessantly For It. It's kind of a painful thing for me to see that so many kids see Bitching & Whining = Getting What You Want. That teaches kids nothing about life. Unfortunately feminism is all about Bitching & Whining to get what you want.
I think alot of our financial values are rooted in from our childhood. Can most of us overcome them with time? Sure. But I think its undeniable that there are things in our past that shape the way we see money today. They say it takes a village to raise a child. I think it takes two parents who care and are on the ball to teach children about how to handle their money. Schools won't do it. The government won't do it. Big corporations won't do it. They want mindless consumers and drones to serve them.
Theres one thing I think alot of people didn't account for about money management and raising kids that I see more now everyday. If you fuck up your kids. If you emotionally and physically steamroll your kids, you could have a trainwreck of a person on your hands. Someone who can't sustain themselves either emotionally or financially. Without a doubt, I find many abusive parents often find that karma kicks them in the ass later. They have to live with the legacy of their choices many years down the road. I know a woman who beat her daughter mercilessly when I was in elementary school. Everyone knew this kid was getting popped. But this was a time before children had as many real/fake protections that they do now. This girl grew up and can't hold a job. She's in an out of mental institutions. I think she might have some developmental issues too. Her mother is still taking care of her. I don't know if I could live with that myself, knowing I screwed up my kids then I have to eat the bad karma of never being free of them if I didn't want them and wanted them gone. Sometimes it crosses my mind that if that mother took the time to raise her child right - even if deep down she realized she didn't want kids, that kid was a mistake for her and she wanted the kid gone as soon as possible - that she could probably be free of her child now. I bet she regrets every punch to the face she gave her daughter now.
I think money management is the same way. Kids are going to grow up knowing nothing and their parents aren't going to teach them and that karma is going to come back and nail those parents eventually in the end.
JBPH