Value stay-home parents, create a flexi-work culture

We should value stay-home parents more

Kids growing up without being cared for by parents could lose the nurturing instinct themselves

by Venessa Lee

Source: Todayonline  Mar 23, 2011

As we puzzle over how to boost our fertility rates, perhaps we should pay more heed to supporting different childcare choices, including stay-home parenting. 

At a recent focus group discussion on parenthood issues, some participants' views suggested that we might be paying too little attention to how childcare norms have changed over the years - and the impact this has had on a generation now in their prime child-bearing years.

Participant Jenni Ho-Huan told Today: "In the '80s we had a large influx of maids; that really changed the social fabric of Singapore. We are paying the price now because these are the young adults of today (who) don't know anything about homemaking." 

Another participant, Ms Sherrie Yap, a stay-at-home-mum, sounded a cautionary note for generations to come: "The kids will follow what we do … if we relegate our responsibilities to maids and all that, in future, they're unlikely to take care of kids themselves too."

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