‘Working Parents Raising Children’

Yes, Mr. Swallow, you are being naive when you suggest that one parent stay home with the children while the other parent works. Many parents today need two incomes to make ends meet; these two incomes are needed to pay for necessities not luxuries. And single parents? These parents can’t afford not to work.

What needs to change is the attitude of employers (and society in general for that matter) about child care. Parents do regret not being able to spend more time with their children. Employer-provided child care allows parents to be with their children more often. At the same time employees (parents) are absent less often and are more able to concentrate on their work.

It is a fact of life today that many children are being brought up by child-care providers and teachers. Is this so bad? Good, quality child care from caring professionals in many ways can be better than a parent frustrated by too small an income or the need to express themselves in ways other than the role of a parent.

There are more opportunities than ever before for both men and women. Parents who feel good about themselves and the choices that they’ve made in their own lives will be able to give their children confidence and self-esteem, impart moral values and self-respect, and teach them to make choices and accept the consequences of those choices.

ANNA KAMMER

Santa Barbara