People that had sufficient time to dedicate to their children prior to the pandemic no longer do. It's not reasonable to suggest that all prospective parents should have forseen Covid-19.
I mean, you can, but I don't buy an unsupported argument that says that everyone "should" do it that way.
It's different in that you're not directly affecting the well being of people dependent on you by making that choice, apart of course from them being living beings.
> don't buy an unsupported argument that says that everyone "should" do it that way
Am not saying what anyone should be doing, you do you, just that I think many parents don't realize how much responsibility is it to have children and even if they do, the current way society is set up doesn't allow them to do their best, in most cases.
Can I infer that you think constant engagement with parents produces the best outcomes for children? Why do you think that?
I totally agree. But I'm not sure how you can use that to support your original statement.
> one shouldn't have kids unless they have the means to dedicate sufficient time and attention to them.
Do believe that no one in a deficient society should have kids whatsoever?
I could have all of the free time in the world, and childcare would still be better for the kid than entirely time at home.
That is not an argument I am making. That is a good way to beat a strawman.
My point is not that they shouldn't be in childcare at all, but that society should support such economic conditions that parents are allowed to spend more time with their kids without having to compromise their economic prospects and so that when they cannot send their children to childcare, say because of a pandemic, it is only a minor inconvenience, rather than a significant burden.
> Childcare isn't just "store children until I get off work", it's engagement. It's that child getting a variety of structured and unstructured time with educators and other kids.
That's the ideal. When you're well educated, have the means to pick up the best childcare for you kid you can find, have done the research, but there's lots of families for whom, yes, childcare is precisely just "store children until I get off work", not out of malice, but because their economic situation hardly allows them to think about it much.