In NC, about 15 years ago, my mother had to go through a back ground check, be finger printed, to take care of her own great-grandchildren when our daughter started getting help for childcare costs from the government. As a single mother with two small children, working without aid for child care would have been counter productive. My mother raised 4 children, took care of numerous relatives with only a high school education and God's help. One niece took early childhood classes to work in daycare and school kinder garden. Another niece got a college education, taught public school for a year or two and did home schooling for a couple of tweens whose mom and dad traveled out of the country and took their children with them. Both nieces are no longer in education and mom is with God. You want to talk necessary skills, then it should be a requirement that ALL high school students take child care classes and observe or participate in day care for a set period of time, all high school students take practical math and house hold skills classes such as how to make a budget, figure interest rates, take a food safety class, be taught how to take care of and repair clothing, be taught how to plan a balanced meal, prepare menus, and clean, yes I said clean, properly both themselves and property. I will go even more away from this post's core intention and state that in addition, after graduation from high school, both girls and boys should be required to enter the military for two years. And if they go to college and have a deferred military then they still have to serve two years. Maybe by completing the prior mentioned tasks, these self/same pseudo adults will learn to respect others, be able to take care of themselves and their homes and practice courtesy with both their actions and words. I'm seeing too many entitled, rude, crude, people in public who have no respect for themselves, their companions, and other people with whom they interact--they are mostly under 30; however, the number of pseudo adults between 30 and 35 that I see appears to have increased from a decade ago.