‘Working Parents Raising Children’

Hiram Swallow may be well-intentioned or he may be anti-child, anti-woman, anti-family. At best he is misinformed on the subject of “Working Parents Raising Children” (Letters, Feb. 3).

My husband and I both work. To have one of us stay at home as a “full-time parent” (by Swallow’s definition) is an unaffordable luxury. We do not own a VCR, a computer or a rec vehicle. Almost my entire paycheck is committed to a 30-year-old average Southern California house that is far from from “fancy.”

Swallow may have lived through “tougher times than these,” but providing security and discipline these days isn’t as simple as being at home instead of at work.

One of the reasons government services in child and family care is so pathetically out of date is that men like Swallow set policies on a state and federal level.

The majority of families in situations similar to ours have adapted to the current economic realities without reneging on the responsibilities our children represent. I know that our children will not find the lack of support Swallow embodies to be common when they choose to work and raise children.

JANE FREUTEL

Lakewood