Taking Parenting Public

Book excerpt: Taking Parenting Public makes a compelling case that parenting has become dangerously undervalued in America today. It calls for a new investment-both personal and public-into the work of raising children and argues that we are all 'stockholders' in the next generation. With a foreword by Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Cornel West, Taking Parenting Public crosses boundaries to bring together thinkers from diverse fields spanning the political spectrum. It features contributions from distinguished experts in economics, political science, public policy, child development, public health, history, and the media. While recent books have focused on working mothers or absent fathers, Taking Parenting Public is the first volume to take a comprehensive look at the common struggles of parents. These essays go beyond the usual chest-beating about busy parents torn between work and family demands to suggest bold solutions. Instead of the typical call for 'parent replacement'-more child care, more after school programs and more mentors-the contributors offer fresh strategies for 'parent replenishment, ' ways to put mothers and fathers back into the lives of their children not only as economic providers, but also as emotional and moral providers