I could change a few words in your main paragraph and match them to any time in the last 40 years. You seem to be hanging on for magic better times but at the

I could change a few words in your main paragraph and match them to any time in the last 40 years. You seem to be hanging on for magic better times but at the same time not expecting things to get better. This doesn't seem to be a good strategy, especially in the case of having children where delaying a few years will very likely result in more difficulties.