In my experience, tutoring for enrichment is often the purported reason for tutoring rather than the true motive. The widespread tendency to tutor children is instead, at least in part, the result of parents’ anxiety about the future of their children. For decades, parents have questioned whether the education they provide their children prepares them for their futures. In recent years, as the economy has worsened and the middle class has shrunk, parents have repeatedly turned to tutoring to reassure themselves that they are doing all they can for the education of their children. This explanation does not characterize all the reasons for tutoring, but it explains a significant part of its current popularity.