I don't really understand where this rationale of "the kids should've taken care of themselves" is coming from. Heaping all the responsibility of Nick turning the house into a fucking skooma den onto the eldest son to whip into shape is madness. He has his own life, education and future to be concerned about, asking him to sacrifice all of that to clean up after his father's poor decisions is abuse. I wouldn't blame him if he just washed his hands of this and left.
There's also the demoralization aspect. Young children watching their parents devolve into sadistic crack fiends before their eyes has definitely diminished them. Why bother cleaning the house when dad's gonna have another coke-fueled orgy in it before week's end? If they weren't even eating properly, I could see the kids rapidly atomizing. Rather than deal with the realities of living in the Baker family household, they just retreat to their rooms and stay there. Their father's drug-induced ire was probably a terrifying thing to them, perhaps more so than getting hungry.
I also disagree that 'poorer' children could deal with a situation like this. Sure, people from more modest households learn responsibilities a bit sooner than later, but I've never met anyone who treats their kids this way, regardless of how well off they are(n't). The poorest folks I know feed their damn kids. The only family I knew who got even close to this bad, their kids are all are now either dead or in prison. Crackhead/alcoholic parents do not often beget functional offspring. The Crackets brood is going to have an uphill battle even after they're in a better situation, and the blame for this lies solely on Nick and Kayla.
