The New 30-Something
I was born in NYC to Haitian immigrants, if you didn&#x27;t know Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. I grew up in a neighborhood with a lot of West Indian first generation children, a common theme for us was that we were &quot;tougher&quot; than the white kids who grew up in NYC because they lived easy lives. It was typical short sighted thinking that young kids do.<p>I wonder what that kid would say now after reading this article. A lot of the people I grew up with went to crappy colleges. I did too, and we were too broke to even think about tuition so PELL grants funded my education. College Textbooks? You mean PDFs from The Pirate Bay.<p>I made it out and got a nice job in tech, but like many of my peers it is I who support my parents. I pay their health insurance, I lend them money for groceries, and I&#x27;m financing my dad&#x27;s chemotherapy. Do you know how hard it is to save up for a house (on the west coast !!) knowing you&#x27;ll never get a windfall from Mom and Dad? When in fact they are a liability budget wise?<p>I wish more articles were written about this side of the coin, it is my experience that many young people, especially minorities, are shouldering the burden of &quot;elder care&quot; earlier than they ever thought they would.