No exit : what parents owe their children and what society owes parents / Anne L. Alstott

Livre

Alstott, Anne L. (1963-....). Auteur

Edité par Oxford University Press - 2004

Having a child, it has been said, is the greatest risk one can take. Marriages may come and go but parenthood endures. There is simply no escape--no exit--from the emotional and practical responsibilities of parenting. Nor should there be. While certain questions swirling around children--What constitutes a "good" parent? What is the role of the state in ensuring the welfare of the child?--are endlessly debated, consistency and continuity of care incontrovertibly play a foundational role in the developmental years of a child's life. Children, everyone agrees, need strong, reliable parenting. Parenting today, however, also involves something else: unprecedented economic peril. Over time, our society's demands on parents have skyrocketed, while the economic rewards of child-rearing have diminished. Once, children provided financial benefit, as workers on the farm and as security in old age. For today's parents, however, having a child is a one-way obligation, one which narrows paths and saps resources. Much of the economic burden falls on mothers, who work less, earn less, and achieve less than their childless peers. Low-income parents often struggle day-to-day to care for their children, hold down a job, and somehow find decent but affordable child care. Parents with severely ill or disabled children may find the course especially precarious

What is continuity of care?. The cost of continuity for parents' lives. Should society expect parents to provide continuity of care?. No exit and parental autonomy. Caretaker resource accounts. A closer look at caretaker resource accounts. Life-planning insurance : extra help for parents of ill or disabled children. Parents and paid work. Practical limitations of the family-friendly workplace. Implementing caretaker resource accounts. Implementing life-planning insurance for parents. What kind of society?.

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