It's a fundamental truth. Children feeling compelled to care for their parents is purely their choice.

I never said it was a bad choice, but it is a choice.

But if you do make that choice, it has consequences.

The concept of children "owing" their parents their lives is anachronistic and ignores the fact the parent chose to have them.

Any parent that feels their children owe taking care of the parent in their older age is an asshole, period. A parent that raised their child well should produce a child that wants to help their parent out of love, not a feeling of owed necessary.

The former is family and love, the latter is narcissistic parents that think they "own" their child.

BUT a child shouldn't be killing themselves to take care of their parent. Any parent that actually loves their child would never ask their child to give up their own life to suit the parents comfort.

A good parent will do whatever it takes to support their child, and if that means leaving their old life behind to move (with their child) somewhere more affordable so the child can actually afford to take care of them, that shouldn't even be a tough question for the parent to answer, it should be an instant "yes, if you are sure you want to do that I'll support your decision"

Parents that compel their children to live outside their means just because they won't move with them somewhere in their means because they dont want to leave their old home behind are shitty parents, period

Parents should never be prioritizing their own comfort at the cost of their children's success in life. If you do that, you were never fit to have a child.