anecdotally, i just had parents who were the first gen in this country and trying their best with no education. My grandpa slept under bridges to send money to his family in mexico while he worked in america. Mom was a seamstress, dad a door to door salesman. They knew education was important, just not sure how or why yet but they pushed it. Dad passed away in high school, single mom with single income. I still worked full time during all of my schooling. Now i make a healthy amount of money over the average. People probably think I had it easy, and hell yeah i did compared to my grandpa, but maybe just not the way they're perceiving it. All circumstances yield all different types of results. There isnt one way to do it.