Throughout human history, children were seen as supportive to the labor of the parents. I recall reading articles recently that were pointing out that this cultural change in attitude towards children may be what is driving declining birthrates: children have changed from assisting in life (in a limited capacity) to being a liability like an expensive pet. A child will not help out in an office job like a child can help in a family run corner store, restaurant or farm.
Certainly I mowed the lawn, washed dishes, cooked, weeded gardens, fed livestock and pets, painted the house, and many more chores. I am not sure I was a net positive even with all that. My parents certainly didn't exploit me, and my parents had worked a lot harder on their parents farms without it being exploitive.
Childhood is universally a time of newness and innocence. There is no need to shelter children from the reality of this world and I think society does a huge disservice by trying to maintain ignorance (while characterizing it as innocence) in children and then suddenly laments how irresponsible they are at 18.
There's that and there is the simple fact that children are now expected to live so there isn't as much need for 'redundancy' to put it bluntly. Up to my grandparents generation it wasn't rare at all to lose one or more children.
Certainly I mowed the lawn, washed dishes, cooked, weeded gardens, fed livestock and pets, painted the house, and many more chores. I am not sure I was a net positive even with all that. My parents certainly didn't exploit me, and my parents had worked a lot harder on their parents farms without it being exploitive.
Childhood is universally a time of newness and innocence. There is no need to shelter children from the reality of this world and I think society does a huge disservice by trying to maintain ignorance (while characterizing it as innocence) in children and then suddenly laments how irresponsible they are at 18.