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The question nobody ever asks

May 8, 2008 by Brigitte Pellerin Leave a Comment

There’s an interesting review out this morning by our very own Andrea Mrozek (yes, Andrea has a life outside PWPL) on a British childcare report Canadians ought to know about. So many aspects of the childcare debate are neglected – including this one, which I had never thought about before reading Maggie Gallagher’s most excellent Enemies of Eros:

This is a perfectly obvious question and yet it is one we seldom ask. Where are the warmhearted substitute caregivers going to come from in a society which increasingly declines to celebrate children, child rearing, and mothering? Values are funny things. We cannot insistently warn women that childbearing is a potential trap and childraising a degrading preoccupation, and then expect the day care industry to be flooded with eager, commited, emotionally-giving workers.

Indeed. If we keep telling girls and young women that only social retards think staying home (or in a home-like setting) to care for snotty toddlers all day is a fun and worthwhile activity, where are we going to get the high-quality “educators” we need to make a national day care system be more than just a reasonably safe-ish place to park your kids?

The quote above is on page 102 of Enemies of Eros. The book was published in 1989, and it rings terrifyingly true in 2008. I only read it recently and if you haven’t read it yet I heartily encourage you to do so.

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Andrea adds: It’s not much of a life, but I’ll concede your point. Anyway, I felt encouraged reading that British childcare study… Because it says women want to care for their kids. And cost is not a factor inhibiting them from using daycare: It’s values and ideology, as per the report. 

The other takeaway from that UK childcare report is this: DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT trust executive summaries. I was shocked to see how the UK government had concealed valuable results of their own surveys.  

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Tanya adds: Hmm… warmhearted substitute caregivers are more likely to come from a society that celebrates children. To celebrate them, a society needs to be having children, I’d say. Is this why, every time I meet an actual super-nanny (by super-nanny, I’m referring to one who hugs and kisses, dotes on and teaches), she’s actually not a Westerner? She’s from a country with a healthy population pyramid, like the Philippines.

http://www.nationmaster.com/country/rp-philippines/Age-_distribution

Has anyone looked at our population pyramid lately?

http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/idbpyrs.pl?cty=CA&out=s&ymax=250

Pointing out the obvious, it does NOT look like a pyramid.

Filed Under: All Posts Tagged With: Andrea Mrozek, Bill C-303, child care, childcare, Childcare choices, day care, institutional child care, Jay Belsky

Spring rant follow-up: It isn’t just me

March 29, 2008 by Véronique Bergeron Leave a Comment

Women, especially mothers, may need a boost to re-enter the workforce. Read about it here. I do have to register an objection to one of the solutions and that would be more government involvement in childcare. As a woman who stayed home for a number of years, I am for choice where it matters. Women who decide to stay home to raise their children should be able to benefit from the same government support and fiscal policies as women who join the paid workforce. That being said, I agree that one of the keys to female employment is the availability of good, affordable childcare. I’m just not convinced that government is the key to good, affordable childcare. Let’s not forget that when the state decides what is good, it also decides what isn’t. Given our government’s stance on abortion, I’m not sure I want it involved in telling me what is good parenting.

Filed Under: All Posts Tagged With: balance, childcare, family life, government, women, workforce

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