Just had this conversation again with DH, who commented that he chatted with a cashier at the supermarket (who looked to be about our age) who was bemoaning the fact that she was having to work this job at her age, and in the play we saw last night, the mom who had to take a job as a disney character (play was set in Anaheim CA) to pay the bills, as they lost their house and were living in a motel.
And my younger s’s MIL whose now ex-H bankrupted them a few years back, wiped out the savings, and she had to get whatever she could (had given up her software training job to be a stay at home mom years before) to keep a roof over her head and get insurance. I have great respect for my s’s MIL who did do this and is working crazy swing shift hours, and she is living hand to mouth. Those are all, IMO, profoundly sad scenarios. There are certainly no guarantees. I want my kids to be happy, safe and secure. That seems like not too much to hope for.