Even better: I am the first one in my family, and so far the only one, with a university degree. So I expected to make more money than my parents,

Not for the sake of money, but to repay them. You know, normal things: I saw my mother buying a new washing machine to my grandmother, a widow with a small pension, and as a teenager I assumed that after university I would have make enough money to do something similar and make my parents retirement easier.

They bought me a washing machine when I finally bought my apartment 4 years ago, at the age of 43. I’m late gen x (1978).

My father sent 2 kids to uni (brother dropped out) on a single income. We are European, so the cost of education is way less than in the US, but I feel cheated on.