I still have memories of a now long departed generation that shared these same modest expectations. People focus their energies on those things they find most important. Those people who saw success in life as raising their children to be productive, secure adults, left no stone unturned to achieve that goal. The increased productivity of the late twentieth century pushed the concern for survival to a back burner. Unfortunately the concern for the raising of children went along with it.
Parents are still concerned about their children.
There are many other concerns that compete for the parents' attention. Parents see many other roads to what they call success. Leisure, thrills and pleasure absorb much of the attention once given to children. In our materialistic society, parents are often more concerned about the physical things they can provide for their children, than about the values and habits that prepare the children for life on their own. Even the more responsible parents commonly turn their children over to juvenile baby sitters and television for extended periods.