Let me explain.
Person has 4 kids. Has massive 35 foot long suburban (that they mostly drive alone) to haul them all over the place. Or potentially an RV that gets 2 mpg.
Likely has a mcmansion with sprawling grass yard and sprinklers, with no native plants.
Likely does not recycle or care about the environment in any way. Buys a bunch of cheap plastic shit they dont need on amazon because its “cute” or their kid needs a new toy now that they’re tired of the iPad.
Likely votes against their own interests (cut school funding and health care programs because “those are for brown kids not mine!!”)
In case you think any of this is hyperbole, I can name 10 people I work with who live this exact cookie cutter life.
Honestly, those of us without kids should get a huge tax cut because we are actually benefitting the planet for the stupid parents.
The parents you know sound like they are in a much better position than the ones I know. One mother of 4 I know is literally buying food for their children and parents eating whatever is leftover. Scraps are her dinner most nights. Or the single dad with two kids that takes them picking up trash at the beach for a bit of free fun.
It sort of sounds like you might be surrounded by rich assholes with more money than brains. They likely should be taxed for numerous other reasons before we get to children.