I agree on the planning part, but I think the difficulty of raising a child is not only due to parents putting in more effort, although it's certainly a big par

I agree on the planning part, but I think the difficulty of raising a child is not only due to parents putting in more effort, although it's certainly a big part. Personally, we try to not put high expectations on our son, we don't have or plan on tons of extracurricular activities etc, but the first few years of their life is super hard anyway because of the constant sleep deprivation, the stress from having to perform at work despite this, and next to no free time for yourself or your relationship to your spouse. I think the reason it's harder now is mainly because both parents are expected to (and need to) work, and there's little support from the "village", because there is no village anymore. Grandparents live far away, kids don't just hang out in droves while one parent keeps an eye out through the kitchen window etc. There are so many factors that make parenting really time and energy consuming.