Obama says poor relatives help Malia and Sasha keep perspective

{mosads}“There was not that window into the lifestyles of the rich and famous,” he said. “Kids weren’t monitoring every day what Kim Kardashian was wearing, or where Kanye West was going on vacation, and thinking that somehow that was the mark of success.”

But he said that for his daughters, “one of the advantages we have” is family members “who are poor” and can illustrate the how those not enjoying the perks of the executive mansion live.

“Malia and Sasha have cousins who know what it’s like to struggle and know what it’s like to have to scrape by,” he said. “They know that those kids are just as worthy as they are, they just haven’t had as much luck.”

The president also said he worried that all sorts of young Americans might have outsized expectations for the future.

“If you look back on your childhood, or if I talk to my friends, all of us have that same impression when we go back home and we realize that the place where we were living was pretty small,” he said. “These days people would say, ‘How did you live in a place that small?’ Well it didn’t feel that small at the time. It was secure. It was stable.”

The president went on to say that the current education system, which often requires expensive student loans that take years to pay back, “creates anxiety” among those who might otherwise be satisfied with a more humble, yet stable life.

“They’re already feeling like things are slipping away from them,” Obama said.