4 ms·

Do you think my preference for my wife to be a homemaker is wrong or irrelevant? It's not just an arbitrary preference: in general it is better for the childre

Do you think my preference for my wife to be a homemaker is wrong or irrelevant? It's not just an arbitrary preference: in general it is better for the children. It is also what most mothers (at least mothers of young children) would prefer, including my wife. Don't get me wrong: for some children, childcare is a better alternative than what awaits them at home, but I think for most it produces worse outcomes. And this kind of thing will force some women into the workforce, because there's no free lunch and some women will have to work to offset the cost to pay for these programs.

JumpCrisscross 3y ago
> Do you think my preference for my wife to be a homemaker is wrong Yes! It's totally fine for your wife to want to be a homemaker. But if you're asking for a world where economic necessity forces her into being one, I totally think there's a moral shade to that preference. (Even if it's simply a preference.) (Clarification: "wrong" as in unethical. I don't think you're a bad person for having that preference. Far from it, I think you're thinking of your kids.) > this kind of thing will force some women into the workforce Is there evidence of this in Luxembourg, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Germany or Portugal [1]? Keep in mind that plenty of women are forced out of their careers to take care of their kids. Adding them back into the economy boosts productivity (whatever they were doing is likely more productive than raising only their own kids, systemically). Taxes from that productivity alone may be the missing variable that balances the equation to not force those who truly choose to stay at home into a profession to keep up with COL. [1] https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2021/07/01/which-countries-have-the-most-generous-child-care-policies https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2021/07/01/which-co...

JumpCrisscross 3y ago

> Do you think my preference for my wife to be a homemaker is wrong Yes! It's totally fine for your wife to want to be a homemaker. But if you're asking for a world where economic necessity forces her into being one, I totally think there's a moral shade to that preference. (Even if it's simply a preference.) (Clarification: "wrong" as in unethical. I don't think you're a bad person for having that preference. Far from it, I think you're thinking of your kids.) > this kind of thing will force some women into the workforce Is there evidence of this in Luxembourg, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Germany or Portugal [1]? Keep in mind that plenty of women are forced out of their careers to take care of their kids. Adding them back into the economy boosts productivity (whatever they were doing is likely more productive than raising only their own kids, systemically). Taxes from that productivity alone may be the missing variable that balances the equation to not force those who truly choose to stay at home into a profession to keep up with COL. [1] https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2021/07/01/which-countries-have-the-most-generous-child-care-policies https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2021/07/01/which-co...