Register for E-mail alerts. Comment on articles. Sign up today, it's easy.
Close
The Washington Times Online Edition

WETZSTEIN: U.S. needs pact based on family

Cheryl WetzsteinCheryl Wetzstein

Second of two parts

America’s society is — and always has been — completely dependent “on both the quantity and quality of other people’s children,” say Phillip Longman and David Gray, who study work and family issues at the New America Foundation think tank.

But the old “social contract” appears to have expired, and it’s time for a new, “family-based” social contract, they say.

The new contract will revive tangible appreciation for parents and workers in the “nurturing sector” of the economy because they are the ones who do the invaluable work of creating, raising and molding the next generation.

Under the expired contract, the American family was presumed to be essential but self-perpetuating, Mr. Longman and Mr. Gray explain in their report, “A Family-Based Social Contract.”

Men and women married and stayed together until death. Children “appeared” because birth control was ineffective, and once born, they were viewed as assets, both for their energetic labor and for their future support for elderly family members.

RELATED:

American family needs some help

Today, marriage is something to delay — or avoid — and if it is achieved, with easy divorce, it may not last. Worst of all, children are no longer viewed as assets; they are million-dollar “liabilities.”

As a result of these and other cultural sea changes, “maintaining the family has become profoundly problematic, not just for individuals, but for society as a whole,” the men wrote.

Parents, of course, have never been paid for their childbearing and child-rearing efforts. But in today’s two-income-based economy, families often are severely penalized if a parent stays home to care for the children.

Having a big family seems like economic suicide.

Even “nurturing” professions are at the low end of pay scales — family physicians and pediatricians earn less than geriatricians and surgeons. Preschool teachers earn less than floor sanders or tree trimmers, Mr. Longman and Mr. Gray wrote.

Why worry about changing any of this? Because both economic and national security depend “on families raising healthy, well-educated, patriotic children,” Mr. Longman and Mr. Gray write. Thus, a prudent, just and wise society will help its young people marry and encourage them to have the children they want to have while they are still young.

Story Continues →

View Entire Story
Comments
blog comments powered by Disqus
About the Author
Cheryl Wetzstein

Cheryl Wetzstein

Cheryl Wetzstein covers family and social issues as a national reporter for The Washington Times. She has been a reporter for three decades, working in New York City and Washington, D.C. Since joining The Washington Times in 1985, she has been a features writer, environmental and consumer affairs reporter, and assistant business editor. Beginning in 1994, Mrs. Wetzstein worked exclusively ...

You Might Also Like
  • President Obama speaks Feb. 13, 2012, about the "Community College to Career Fund" and his 2013 budget at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Va. (Associated Press)

    Obama unveils fiscal 2013 budget proposal

    By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times

  • President Barack Obama speaks about the "Community College to Career Fund" and his 2013 budget, Monday, Feb. 13, 2012, at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Va. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

    Social Security reserves forecast to run dry in 2022

    By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

  • **FILE** This photo from Dec. 13, 2011, shows workers inside Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. (Associated Press)

    Arizona lawmakers: No more teachers’ dirty words

    By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times

  • In Case You Missed It
    Happening Now

          Independent voices from the TWT Communities

          The Tygrrrr Express

          A politically conservative and morally liberal Hebrew alpha male hunts left-wing vipers.

          Red Thread: An Adoptive Family Forum

          The Red Thread is written for that special tribe: adoptive families and those who hope to be.

          Appalachian Chronicles

          Enjoy the musings of this irreverent and humorous Appalachian American student of life, using her own unique experience as the springboard.

          The Sports Philosopher

          A statistically slanted view of sports, brought to you by a disciple of the Bill James movement.