I worked in a daycare after being at home with my children for 10 years. Quit after 1 year, and agree with the author about the inability to provide good care. You cannot pay someone to care on a mass scale. I think there was a book called "The Daycare Deception" a while back, written by former owners of a daycare. They went into it to provide excellent care, and found out that was impossible. I would also tent to argue that mothers raising children adds to their overall contentment and happiness, generally, but not in all cases. Everyone is different. When the midsize company I worked for downsized and laid off a few dozen people in the office, without exception, those with children or a husband said they didn't plan on reentering the workforce until they had to. They had severance packages and some benefits as well as unemployment.
I am an Orthodox Jew living in Israel - where group daycare is ubiquitous (probably due to our country's socialist beginnings) and pretty well funded. Some random thoughts:
1. Given the geopolitical pressure cooker we are living in - I think most kids here in Israel turn out OK. Why?
Most are still in stable 2-parent homes.... my guess is that divorce rose in Quebec like it did in the rest of the West.
There are Scouts and youth groups under religious auspices.
The culture is still traditional in its values and its expectations of children's behavior.
2. As stated the theory assumes a small, relatively affluent family to allow all that one-on-one caretaking. How realistic is this?
It was never the historical norm.
In Orthodox Jewish circles the families are large (6+ is not unusual). Yet children turn out not just well-mannered, but with manners grounded in good values. Maybe its the values, and the stable family unit.
3. Compared to my North American upbringing, Israeli kids are ruder and more aggressive. That may actually be more realistic than my suburban American upbringing.... Like my immigrant parents, my Israelis kids and grandkids are better equipped for real life than I was.... and much modern Liberal/progressive craziness can be traced to unrealistic notions nurtured in affluent suburbs.
My guess is a stable family - or lack thereof - is more determinant of these outcomes.
My guess is that values - or lack thereof - is more determinant of these outcomes.
I worked in a daycare after being at home with my children for 10 years. Quit after 1 year, and agree with the author about the inability to provide good care. You cannot pay someone to care on a mass scale. I think there was a book called "The Daycare Deception" a while back, written by former owners of a daycare. They went into it to provide excellent care, and found out that was impossible. I would also tent to argue that mothers raising children adds to their overall contentment and happiness, generally, but not in all cases. Everyone is different. When the midsize company I worked for downsized and laid off a few dozen people in the office, without exception, those with children or a husband said they didn't plan on reentering the workforce until they had to. They had severance packages and some benefits as well as unemployment.
I am an Orthodox Jew living in Israel - where group daycare is ubiquitous (probably due to our country's socialist beginnings) and pretty well funded. Some random thoughts:
1. Given the geopolitical pressure cooker we are living in - I think most kids here in Israel turn out OK. Why?
Most are still in stable 2-parent homes.... my guess is that divorce rose in Quebec like it did in the rest of the West.
There are Scouts and youth groups under religious auspices.
The culture is still traditional in its values and its expectations of children's behavior.
2. As stated the theory assumes a small, relatively affluent family to allow all that one-on-one caretaking. How realistic is this?
It was never the historical norm.
In Orthodox Jewish circles the families are large (6+ is not unusual). Yet children turn out not just well-mannered, but with manners grounded in good values. Maybe its the values, and the stable family unit.
3. Compared to my North American upbringing, Israeli kids are ruder and more aggressive. That may actually be more realistic than my suburban American upbringing.... Like my immigrant parents, my Israelis kids and grandkids are better equipped for real life than I was.... and much modern Liberal/progressive craziness can be traced to unrealistic notions nurtured in affluent suburbs.
My guess is a stable family - or lack thereof - is more determinant of these outcomes.
My guess is that values - or lack thereof - is more determinant of these outcomes.
The link to Laura's essay is broken.