Why do all people seem to assume that both parents should do equal shares of work, household and child care.
Mostly for political reasons, I guess.
The rational part is that one day the parents may get into conflict and instead of playing cooperatively they will start playing against each other. At that moment the one which focused last years on their professional skills will have an advantage against the one which focused on child care. Dividing the household and child care is the most simple (and most likely suboptimal) way to reduce this advantage.
Most significant is the time cost: Caring for four children doesn’t cost you more time than caring for a single one (it is much more demanding though). It is therefor rational from a rational utilitarian point of view that some couples should have no children and some many.
In my opinion this is suboptimal in a similar way. Many people want to have their own biological children. I believe a better solution would be somewhere in a direction of caring for the children together. Somewhere between an extended family and a kindergarten; like a small private kindergarten where the parents are close friends with the caretakers. Sometimes the role of the caretaker can be changed, but it is not necessary for everyone to do it. If rationalists in some parts of the world are already moving to live closer together, this seems like a logical next step, if they decide to have children. With a critical mass of rationalists at some place we could probably invent some kind of a pyramid scheme, where the older children would take care of the younger children, so less adult supervision would be needed. This could be mixed with homeschooling, etc.
Somewhere between an extended family and a kindergarten; like a small private kindergarten where the parents are close friends with the caretakers.
That, right there, is one of my fondest dreams. To get my tiny scientists out of the conformity-factory and someplace where they can flourish (even more). Man, if this was happening in my town, in a heartbeat I’d rearrange my work schedule to spend part of the week being a homeschooler.
The rational part is that one day the parents may get into conflict and instead of playing cooperatively they will start playing against each other. At that moment the one which focused last years on their professional skills will have an advantage against the one which focused on child care. Dividing the household and child care is the most simple (and most likely suboptimal) way to reduce this advantage.
Indeed this has been the case. I have had such an advantage during our crisis and that is one reason I could deal with it. But then caring for four children is also something you can specialize in and also has a high worth in most countries and is also some kind of advantage.
Somewhere between an extended family and a kindergarten; like a small private kindergarten where the parents are close friends with the caretakers.
Sounds like a kibbuz. I like this idea. But I still think that a professionalization of ‘motherhood’ wouldn’t be a bad idea either. It has the advantage of high motivation. I once even read that this is generally an overdue and possibly needed step. Just cam’t find the ref.
Mostly for political reasons, I guess.
The rational part is that one day the parents may get into conflict and instead of playing cooperatively they will start playing against each other. At that moment the one which focused last years on their professional skills will have an advantage against the one which focused on child care. Dividing the household and child care is the most simple (and most likely suboptimal) way to reduce this advantage.
In my opinion this is suboptimal in a similar way. Many people want to have their own biological children. I believe a better solution would be somewhere in a direction of caring for the children together. Somewhere between an extended family and a kindergarten; like a small private kindergarten where the parents are close friends with the caretakers. Sometimes the role of the caretaker can be changed, but it is not necessary for everyone to do it. If rationalists in some parts of the world are already moving to live closer together, this seems like a logical next step, if they decide to have children. With a critical mass of rationalists at some place we could probably invent some kind of a pyramid scheme, where the older children would take care of the younger children, so less adult supervision would be needed. This could be mixed with homeschooling, etc.
That, right there, is one of my fondest dreams. To get my tiny scientists out of the conformity-factory and someplace where they can flourish (even more). Man, if this was happening in my town, in a heartbeat I’d rearrange my work schedule to spend part of the week being a homeschooler.
Indeed this has been the case. I have had such an advantage during our crisis and that is one reason I could deal with it. But then caring for four children is also something you can specialize in and also has a high worth in most countries and is also some kind of advantage.
Sounds like a kibbuz. I like this idea. But I still think that a professionalization of ‘motherhood’ wouldn’t be a bad idea either. It has the advantage of high motivation. I once even read that this is generally an overdue and possibly needed step. Just cam’t find the ref.