They are risking having their kids grow up with less access to resources in order to give those same kids one of the primary benefits of access to resources. If they did the research, understood the consequences, and were sincere about their reasons, it is the very epitome of a calculated risk.

It's not like the potential downside is living in the car. The potential downside is maybe being forced to rent in a worse area, and having trouble buying things on credit for a while.