Refering back to the OP, Fly(ing?) Fishing cost & future generations, things need to be put in perspective. As youngsters, many of us took to the hobby, then education, employment, partners & family etc. intrude, then, a more disposable income becomes available once the fledglings have left the nest. Once again the opportunity arises to resume a hobby of bygone years. Hence, the older generation of fishermen (& women where the case may be.).
There is very large slice of truth in that, and in fact it was researched by the EA several years ago in one of their major efforts to get people into, or back into, fishing. We were particularly keen to attract the "grey" vote, ie people who had retired, and many then did so at 60 or even earlier and research indicated that these were relatively well-off as the mortgage was paid, the kids had left and they had time on their hands.
I guess I am a fairly classic case. Mad keen on fishing in my youth and early teens, but opportunities for trout were very limited where we lived, and those that were available were either too far to ride to on a bike or out of reach of a 15/- a week paper round. My father took me to Weir Wood Reservoir on one or two occasions, but he wasn't so well-heeled that he could afford two full day tickets too often. No concessions for youngsters back then. My trout fishing exploits were centred around worming for trout in Wales on holiday or using grasshoppers for bait in Austria. Fly fishing didn't enter my life in any meaningful way for several years.
Then in the mid-teens along came exams, rapidly followed by girl friends, further education, work, marriage and family. Fishing? What was that?
Luckily, after a few false starts I found my niche in life in fisheries management so in that respect I've been damned fortunate. Fishing, and now fly fishing, once more became a large part of my life, but it wasn't until my mid-twenties that it did so.
Two things, though, stuck in my mind from my occasional early forays into fly fishing on stillwaters. It was relatively expensive considering the pay scales of the day, and there were very few younger people doing it. On one day at Weir Wood with my father there were about 40 people fishing, and I was far & away the youngest.
In discussions with those who are trying hard to get more people into angling I have made the point that trying to get youngsters involved is largely waste of time. Get them into it early by all means, but accept the fact that the vast majority will follow the same path that I, and many, many others, have followed in that in their late teens through to their mid-30's fishing will be at best a very occasional outing. By the time they are in the mid-30's they should be more financially stable, God and Covid permitting, and have more time to devote to things outside of the home. Mid-30's up to retirement age is the target audience. Give the kids a taste, but make that taste a good one, and then let them come back to it later.