My parents were self-employed, but during the fall, often busy at the other place (a fishing camp -- this one: http://matt.wandel.ca/amogla/amogla.html ) at the time we came home from school. Dinner was ready, warmed up in the oven (no microwaves then, at least in our household, but that's why ovens had/have timers!) and we ate and played and did all the usual stuff (homework, sigh) without parental supervision.
That's not neglect and we grew up fine, and yes, with additional sense of responsibility. For example, one day, the newly acquired stick-shift 1985 Toyota Van sat there, the parents having gone to the camp in the truck. We all piled in there, and I, the only one at the time old enough to have a driver's licence but no stick-shift experience worth mentioning, kind of figured it out as I went, and drove everyone to the camp. We survived, the van did too, parents were fine with it. We were trusted to do this kind of thing on our own judgement, rather than parental micromanagement. That's the difference.