It isn’t a question of blame it’s a question of responsibility. To realistically bring children into the world one has to be responsible for them, emotionally, physically and yes financially.
I profoundly disagree with the philosophy that success and hardship are simply a matter of relative privilege. I am not making the case that somehow the world is fair (it clearly isn’t!), but this narrative that the poor are only poor thanks to the vicissitudes of fate, and the successful only succeed off the back of unearned privilege is not only flawed it’s actually dangerous.
You contribute to the poverty trap when you push a narrative that people aren’t responsible for their own successes and failures. It’s disempowering and feeds into a sense of powerlessness. It is the left’s own version of sneering at the poor, as if by being victims of an unfair system the poor dears couldn’t possibly be expected to make anything of themselves. I’d challenge that in the strongest possible terms.
That isn’t to say the right does much better, as I find the sometimes callous indifference to those struggling as disgusting as the rest of you. There has to be some sort of healthier middle ground, which I suspect is to be found in pushing to maximise opportunities for social mobility.
I also don’t think the solution is to be found in voting once in an election cycle and signalling your political colours in online debates and doing precious little else. We should be taking better care of one another better on a personal level. If a fellow family at your child’s school is struggling, discretely try to help. Volunteer at a food bank, or donate items if you can.
Between Brexit and Covid, there will be no shortage of people struggling to get back on their feet, so help if you can, and if you need assistance for heaven’s sake feel no shame in asking. I just don’t think government programs of whatever tribe you vote for do much other than make situations worse for somebody somewhere.