Frugality Hits Pampered Children

Like everyone else, I've noticed how spoiled kids are these days and how they need to have everything right now. Don't get me wrong, I wanted everything right now as a kid too, but my parents weren't in a position to have it for themselves or give it to me. Partly economics. Partly values.

With the recent economic meltdown, children of the wealthy or aspirationally-wealthy, were provided with consumer goods at will; now they're not. And are upset about it. Which makes sense, because they don't necessarily realize that the entire world isn't on the gravy train they were raised on.

This may reduce the competition for private schools, or merely increase the number requesting financial aid for those same schools. Private colleges have been making choices about what to spend money on and are reducing their donation requests as unseemly in this economy. Rather than going for additions to buildings, they're focusing on making money available for financial aid, in light of the changes in credit lately.

While I'd like to think there will be fewer students in law school entering classes, due to the increase in attendance at graduate programs during bad economic times, the net result will likely be fewer new law school students whose parents are funding everything.