The New Nobility

I recently shared a dinner table with a married couple and their young daughter, and the wife proudly described how she has a nanny to take care of her daughter, so that she can be free to focus on her career and make money. Her husband, although employed, stands in her shadow professionally. Her choice to outsource the raising of her child to a stranger is increasingly common today among American women. Do we have a new nobility class emerging?

A hundred years ago, only the upper echelon of society had the means to purchase the time of someone to look after children around the clock. The nanny often also came with other house staff, like a butler, cook, and driver. In fact, in some cases, there were so many working people living in the house that they required their own manager—usually the wife. She didn’t work for money, but she did assume great responsibility and wielded significant authority within the home.

Outside of the upper class—the American equivalent of European nobility—ordinary Americans have always raised their own children, until now. True, preschool and after school care have provided breaks for stay-at-home mothers, as well as opportunities for young children to socialize outside the home in a structured environment for several decades, but they have never been meant to replace mothers.