Outsourcing Parenting

Mothers are no longer raising their own children. They are outsourcing parenting, and the children are suffering.

According to 2022 US Census data, around two-thirds of young children (age five and under) are being taken care of by strangers. Only one quarter of mothers leave the workforce after their child is born. American women are choosing to remain working rather than staying at home to be with their children.

Early attachment—the bond formed between a mother and child—begins at birth and continues to develop strongly for the first year. Until age five, the most important bond for a child is with the mother. She is indispensable during those early years. After that, the influence of the father becomes dominant.

This makes sense from a biological perspective. Young children are fragile and cannot survive on their own. They require constant care and nourishment from their mothers. As they become more physically independent, their fathers are then able to provide masculine support—role-modeling, survival skills training, social navigation.

Mothers ensure a child’s survival. Fathers ensure a child’s success.