How would you set your child up for the future in a world like today? Or how are you doing this?

[cactusdog]

I don't know if maybe people have always felt this way but it feels like we have very uncertain and scary times ahead (economy and environment among others) so much so that some people are choosing not to have children at all!

What would you do or have you done to try and set your kids up the best you can?

Instill resilience?
Put away as much money as you can for them?
Get them on the property ladder?
Private education?

Or even more extreme like survivalist stuff?

@Stompythedinosaur

I imagine I'm doing the same as parents everywhere. I try to support their education and teach them both practical skills and personal qualities that will see them through difficult times in the future. I know that the main thing I can do is ensure they have a stable and happy childhood with strong attachments to the adults around them.

We are also saving for them and hope to help with uni fees and/or a house deposit.

I wrote something then saw what Stompy wrote which is spot on.

(Unfortunately experiences pre-adoption, some SN, health issues, and the pandemic have screwed up quite a lot of our aims. We will keep trying in 2021.)

Good education and giving them the tools to go into IT as a career should they choose, as it seems to me to be a safe, well paid and flexible (in terms of family friendly, quality of life type stuff) career choice. There is only going to be greater and greater demand.

This means Lego and construction toys for my dd, and lots of encouragement in maths. Women are underrepresented in IT due in large part to insidious messages to girls in childhood that construction toys and maths are ‘for boys’. It’s too late by the time they reach their teens; they are already playing catch up.

Obviously they may not choose to go into IT; but I’ll have given them the skills.

I’m not in IT by the way, I’m a complete Luddite and I am very conscious of what a handicap it is.

We live in a golden age compared to the rest of human history

Hmmm. I'm not sure about that; we are on the cusp of environmental catastrophe that will inevitably lead to civil unrest, famine and wars. Even if we change our ways now I fear it may be too late and most people can't be arsed to change anyway. I hope I'm wrong but I think we're pretty fucked.

@VenusClapTrap, I don't want to be argumentative but I think your approach is already getting a bit out of date. IT technical skills are much stronger in Asia as a rule it is already very hard to compete with the quality and quantity of candidates in what is a highly globalized industry- anyway most entry level tech jobs will be automated by the time our kids are looking for jobs. AI and robotics will have a massive impact in the next few decades and you won't recognize the jobs available. Pace of change is extremely fast so you can't predict what specific skills will be useful. I wouldn't seek to specialize in IT , unless you have a real flair for tech (eg obsessive about learning to code from a very young age).

Soft skills are the most important, career-wise. Learning agility, highly entrepreneurial, ability to lead, creative/imaginative skills, artistic skills, resilience and change-orientation, planning skills along with thinking on your feet, and courage/dealing with adversity, public speaking, networking etc.