[LandR]

Even if you want to look at it from a purely selfish point of view... if you want to live in a good, prosperous society, this starts with childrens education. A well fed, happy, well slept child is an ideal here to get them the best education they can.

Not wanting each child to get the best possible start in life makes absolutely no sense to me.

But yes, no child should go hungry at school.

[lukan]

"Not wanting each child to get the best possible start in life makes absolutely no sense to me."

Maybe to lower the chances of other children against your own (wealthy) offspring? So from a very selfish individualistic perspective there is sense? I suspect that might be the base motivation, even though you likely won't find many openly stating that or even are aware of it.

[mistersquid]

> "Not wanting each child to get the best possible start in life makes absolutely no sense to me."

> Maybe to lower the chances of other children against your own (wealthy) offspring?

Some may think and behave along these lines. Their problem is that they conceive economic activity as zero-sum, which it is not.

Good educational outcomes generate wealth for everyone.

[pmg101]

It could do but only for the kids that would be competing closely with your own children, so of a similar socioeconomic status.

For children from much poorer backgrounds it's more likely that making their prospects even worse will just create later negative impacts on society, such as crime, drug addiction, prostitution, gang violence and so on.

[brainzap]

This. It also creates peace