I believe that parents, even if they are not present for whatever reason, should be responsible for the education, feeding and clothing of their children, they should never neglect these obligations, and by not doing so I take it to that law of the universe that everything you do comes back to you, if you don't attend, who will attend to you when you need it.
This got my attention as it is very important has parents to take care of these aspects for their children as they didn't asked to be born and so they should always be prepared to take responsibility for him for the main time that they have to before the children come to age.
In this part of the world (Africa) that I leave in, there is this thing that all parents strive to make sure they attend to their children's needs and in return, the children always take care of the parents till they are no more. This is not a law, but it is a natural lifestyle here and so we don't need to go taking student loans as our parents already do whatever they can to take care of that
It is a relationship that must be respected by the parents, as you say the children do not decide to come.
Thank you very much for giving value to my post