> Empirically, people with kids almost never achieve outlier levels of success
> Don't most successful people have kids (just like anybody else)?
I imagine both those things are true.
> Also, many people just don't take care of their kids. There are many mono-parental families out there.
I became a single parent when my wife developed mental illness (which was like getting 5 more kids). In my case self-employment allowed me to be present a lot more often than most single parents can.
Nevertheless, the overriding truth is that nearly every sq inch of modern western society is stacked against single parents.
Don't most successful people have kids (just like anybody else)?
Also, many people just don't take care of their kids. There are many mono-parental families out there.