If you or your friends couldn't spare 500 € to help a friend out I really wonder what savings you or your friends have.
The most powerful tool anyone has to build wealth (and help others) is:
* The discipline to live below your means (and avoid debt), and
* Your income.
If you are unencumbered with debt, and live as far below your means as you feel comfortable with, you can build a substantial amount of wealth if you have enough time.
As to affording children, and I can only speak from personal experience, but I've found that a dedicated parent will always find a way.
You're right that previous generations had things differently, but only with regards to globalisation... current economic disparity started to occur post 23 December 1913 with the Federal Reserve Act and post 15 August 1971 when Nixon unilaterally terminated the convertibility of the US dollar to gold.
If you really want to know why you will need to learn how money is created and the economic ramifications of a fiat currency (and inflation) combined with a fractional reserve system.
The thing is, most of the things you describe, I already do, in France, through taxes for health care, social aid and retirements. Then also insurances (for cars, flat, etc). Doing it myself would mean paying twice.
And since education is free and I don't have a car, I don't have a mortgage.
So my situation is not that bad. It can become bad if:
- the system fails. It will for retirements. It does for some health care / insurance / social aid situation.
- your issue arise outside of what the system takes in consideration.
Knowing that, setting up an automatic emergency saving wire is a good thing to do.
I don't believe saving for my retirement will help in anyway. I'll have to find something better, which I'm working on.
But again, remember than most people don't read HN or anything else than FB streams. They live their life as-is. Like my parents did.
The question is, why could they afford children, pleasures, and saving, while my friend can't. Neither my parents nor my friends are very good planners, but clearly their situation is vastly different.