I agree that's the only sustainable way of protecting kids.
But it requires a radical shift in society and culture. Parents need to spend a LOT more time with their kids. Specially mothers.
Some people will disagree and even downvote - I presume for ideological reasons - but I have the opinion that, for < 5 years-old children, spending time with the mother is more important than the father. So women should have a special safety net to dedicate more to their kids without worrying about their finances and career prospects. Men should also be taught since childhood to provide security to women.
I know, I know, lots of different types of families nowadays. I just don't know how they work, I only know "Mother, Father and children" families... Sorry, limitations of my personal experience.
"Mother, Father and children" is a relatively new phenomenon. The more common historical norm is "Mother, Father, some grandparent, maybe an aunt, and children". Under the latter scenario, there are a ton of different adults that can pay attention to the kids at any one time.
An arrangement of "mother stays home" is just as arbitrary as anything else in the grand scheme of things. There's nothing "traditional" or "normal" about it.
Yes, I would say over the last several thousand years, since agriculture, both parents stayed home (on the farm/lord's land) and the kids helped them work it. Having one or both parents gone any substantial amount of time is a completely new phenomenon outside death from disease or war or something like that. Industrialization over the past 150 years or so has gradually but completely changed how humans work and I think we're still getting accustomed to it as a species.
One of the nice things about remote working now is we're returning back to working at home / on the farm, which is more "natural" than both parents going to the office/factory.
I didn't say it's old, common, traditional, or anything else. Just my personal experience. What you said is certainly on your mind, not mine.
> The more common historical norm
Source?
> ton of different adults
I don't think any other adult can perfectly replace a father and mother. It's not just about not letting kids get hurt. It's related to fatherhood and motherhood which shapes behavior in ways that an uncle, grandma, teacher, caretaker, whatever just can't have.
But it requires a radical shift in society and culture. Parents need to spend a LOT more time with their kids. Specially mothers.
Some people will disagree and even downvote - I presume for ideological reasons - but I have the opinion that, for < 5 years-old children, spending time with the mother is more important than the father. So women should have a special safety net to dedicate more to their kids without worrying about their finances and career prospects. Men should also be taught since childhood to provide security to women.
I know, I know, lots of different types of families nowadays. I just don't know how they work, I only know "Mother, Father and children" families... Sorry, limitations of my personal experience.