Gavra – my understanding is that Rav Moshe held that the age until which one is obligated to support his children now reaches 17 or 18 or so – the 5 years old threshold from the gemorah was based on an assumption that children went to work at a young age and began earning money, hence they were no longer aniyim who required support – nowadays, however, children customarily reside with their parents (or are supported by them) through high school years – that is why ma’aser cannot be used to support a child past the age of 5 or 6
not a critique of any positions you’ve taken, I just wanted to add a note on what I learned Rav Moshe held
l’maiseh, I personally think that there are untold consequences and prices we will pay for the current situation – I’ll likely be stoned for saying so, but here are a few – (1) used to be schools could tap grandparents when parents could not pay full tuition, but now that grandparents are primary payers, there is no second well; (2) parents sending money to children but not saving for their own later years, placing strain on communal institutions that may need to care for them; (3) babies raised by day care providers instead of mothers (granted, two incomes are often necessary, but we are talking here about forgoing even the opportunity for a mother to raise her infant child on a daily basis).