CHILD CARE INQUIRY: Should parents or paid strangers raise children?

A Sydney-based group of stay-at-home mothers has challenged the reigning orthodoxy, supported by both sides of Australian politics, that mothers should be encouraged to seek paid employment and have their children raised by paid strangers. The group has told the Australian government Productivity Commission’s Inquiry into Child Care and Early Childhood Learning that the unpaid work mothers perform in the home should not be devalued or ignored. Prime Minister Tony Abbott. In a submission to the inquiry, the group said: “The idea that parents who provide primary care to their children are unemployed or not contributing to the economy is…