There are no guarantees. Our children have their own lives and live them in their own ways.
That’s not to say that we shouldn’t hope for what we’d like, but we can’t expect them to fulfil those hopes.
People do settle down later now. That’s partly because education has become available to more people, so competition in the workplace is fiercer than it used to be. Young people can’t rest on their laurels after graduating like they used to, which is fair to those who used to be excluded but harder for those used to having the advantage. It’s also partly because housing is so expensive. Those with parents who can bankroll them are ok, but without that backing it is very difficult for young people to buy homes at the age we did.
I was 32 when I had my first child, but 22 when we bought our first house. Career wise I made my own way without parental support and it took longer than it would have done if I’d taken a more traditional route. I’m happy with that- I never wanted to be dependent on anyone - but my children were raised to be independent too, and to value the contribution they make to society rather than to themselves, so they are now at the same sort of age and show no signs of being likely to have children of their own yet, as it is so much harder for them to buy a house than it was for us (despite the interest rates and so on).
Later maybe, but I am getting older, which means that I will struggle to ’step up’ to do what my parents didn’t and be a supportive granny, as I am 20 years older than my grandmother was when I was born. Fair? Unfair? Neither really. It’s just how life plays out.
