The Value of Parenthood

When I was growing up, my father (a firefighter) was able to buy a home and support us on his (at the time) lower middle class income, while my mother was able to stay home and raise my sister and I. Today, in most families, both parents have to work just to make ends meet. The Feminist movement made incredible strives in achieving equality for women in society. From Politics to the boardroom, women have done some amazing things. Unfortunately the most important woman of all was left to the way side... The housewife/mom. How many times have you heard the term housewife used with an unspoken yet implied "she's just a" lingering in the air? Not to mention stay-at-home dads. I think most people don't want to be defined with any sort of "he or she's just a..." title. This of course is understandable and is the one of the reasons we have to make a pivotal shift in how we define and label what's really important in our society.

Many parents are forced to drop their kids off at day care for 10 hrs/day 5 days a week. During the week they only see their kids when they're getting them ready and out the door in the morning and in the evening when they feed, bathe and put them to sleep. Basically, they only spend about 40-45 waking hours per week with their child, while the child spends 50 waking hours under the influence of the daycare provider. This is preposterous! Families should not have to chose between economic prosperity and having the ability to raise their own children.

Ann Crittenden, in her book "The Price of Motherhood", say's

"Despite the overall advancement of women, mothers' work remains unappreciated in an economic sense, even though moms are cultivating "human capital." Raising productive citizens, the author argues, directly contributes to the overall health of the economy and wealth of the society."

Check out this interview with Ann Crittenden about her book "The Price of Motherhood"

http://life.familyeducation.com/working-parents/family-time/36305.html

In May 2007, just before Mother's Day, Salary.com Inc. gave an annual estimate of market value of mothers' work. They determined that a stay-at-home mother deserves an annual salary of $138,095.00

Check out the article on the Wall Street Journal blog

http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/putting-a-price-on-mom-102/

The truth is if we put the true value on engaged parenting that it deserves and made it possible for at least one parent to have the opportunity to stay at home to raise a child, our society would be incalculably better for it. We should not only have the opportunity to be there for our kids, we should be encouraged to.