But we know having too much money doesn’t breed contentment and success, either. There are serious challenges to bringing up kids — to being kids — who have it all. Research has found that privileged kids are, as a whole, more self-centered, depressed, and self-destructive. They’re more narcissistic, but struggle to develop a sense of self. And yet, they excel, often quite notably, in academics, sports, and other pursuits. So what we have is a generation of paradox: Bright, talented, increasingly troubled children. And when they don’t excel, they often fail quite spectacularly. Groundbreaking research was conducted in the late 1990s by Columbia University psychology professor Suniya Luthar. Luthar compared more than 200 mostly white, mostly rich suburban tenth graders with the same number of mostly black, mostly low-income urban tenth graders and found that the affluent teens drank, smoked, and used drugs at a higher rate than their low-income counterparts.
Disclaimer: In 2023, the median net worth of Canadian families was $519,700, with families aged 65 and older having the highest median net worth at $1,109,700. In contrast, families with children under 18 had a median net worth of $645,900, and one-parent families had a median net worth of $211,200 . These figures suggest that younger families, particularly those with children, tend to have lower net worth compared to older households.
