I've been wondering if we are not regressing to an earlier time, the feudal times, where property passed down through family lines. And the younger generation, if wiser, could grow that wealth--but they were unlikely to get ahead if they didn't have a certain amount given to them. If not feudal then just earlier times when property and possessions passed through blood lineage.
Works well when birth rate drops to two--even better if less.
Makes me wonder if financial acuity becomes all the more important to teach to one's offspring. If it's no longer true that one can get ahead by sheer hard work (and I'm not sure that is the case, but still), then all the more important to raise one's offspring well.
Supposedly blood runs thicker than water. Many a generation has complained about the upcoming generation not respecting the ways of the elders. If the younger generation becomes all the more dependent on the older generation... might a trend towards divergent family ties be reverted back towards strong family ties? What is old becomes new again. Maybe some day men will again plant trees that they know they will not sit under.