The “big five” banks in the states actually represent less than half the American population, whereas the major banks in Canada cover about 85% of us. (Note these numbers are from before the pandemic - I’m no longer involved in the banking industry.)

The US system is still incredibly fragmented, though a lot of consolidation is happening (yay oligopolies). Canada, on the other hand, has had stricter regulations for longer, which meant that even the 15% of Canadians with small banks and credit unions were included in the changes to the industry as they happened.

This fine isn’t even punitive. It’s just the wages owed plus interest, which is the same as if they’d paid the wages properly the first time.

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Keep in mind that the “housing” cost includes either moving to a bigger property, or simply assigning part of your current mortgage costs to your child. If your house is sufficiently large, there won’t be any much additional cost here beyond an increase in utility usage.

Similarly, transportation downloads a lot of the cost of a vehicle to your child. Maybe you do need a bigger car, in which case that makes sense. But maybe your car is fine, so the only added expense is gas and maintenance for the extra mileage for children’s activities.

I have a friend on ozempic (for diabetes). It really seems like it’s impossible for him to just use it to continue his excessive eating habits, because it suppresses his appetite and he just doesn’t eat much anymore. He still eats garbage, but much less.