Property News · August 12, 2013

Letters: Parenting is not just a lifestyle choice


I couldn’t believe it when I eventually learned what the government has proposed for parents of under-fives (Report, 5 August). At first, I believed they were proposing a blanket voucher scheme to all parents to help with the not inconsiderable financial burdens of having a family – £5,464 in the bank before you even start, we are told. But no: it appears that this subsidy will only apply to working parents. Mothers who stay at home are told that this is their choice – a “lifestyle choice”, like drinking or smoking.Many studies have demonstrated that children who spend long hours in substitute care may develop behavioural problems and become more difficult to teach in school later on. The campaign group Mothers at Home Matter has argued strongly that most children are emotionally better off when cared for by a sensible parent or close relative. And why shouldn’t parents be free to exercise their choice of childcare – home or away – without this heavy social engineering? We have other freedoms in this country: freedom to worship (or not), freedom to educate our children as we see fit, freedom of speech etc. But the freedom to raise one’s own offspring is denied to all but the extremely wealthy.   Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
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