Yesterday I could read in The country an article that reflects on the generation of mothers who care for grandparents, children and grandchildren and how this type of "superwoman" is disappearing. I find it interesting to read how the hole that this fact supposes in the welfare state is spoken, especially by the nursery social demand and geriatric.
But what is meant by Welfare state? It is a complex concept that involves very subjective visions. The nurseries appear in the article as one of the pillars in this aspect for society, although it is not the only one.
The public system does not cover the request for daycare centers. This is a demand that is there and needs to be addressed. The figures speak of the fact that in Spain there are about 1.5 million children under 3 years old and only 16% have a place in a public children's center, while 43% of families demand the service.
Many mothers and fathers do not want or cannot quit work and already many grandmothers and grandparents do not want or cannot take care of the little ones, which I think is great: "I already did my thing, I do not stay with them so that their parents go to the movies. I go to the movies. " Maybe things were different if other alternatives to kindergarten were viable and effective in our society, but for now they are not.
The article also emphasizes that there are still many grandmothers, aunts and mothers who exercise an unwritten female solidarity to get ahead, while some grandfather, uncles and fathers seem "exempt" from these chores. Eye, in my opinion, this is changing little by little, and many of these exemptions are also imposed For the females.
In the article we also find a story of a mother who in the 60s multiplied to cover in the newspapers of the time the great international conflicts and breastfeed her seven children, looking for gaps at work, with the help of the grandmother who led him to Babies every 3 hours:
"I gave up everything for years, to music, to the cinema, to the theater. Or I was behind a child or behind the news. I didn't want to leave either, I liked my job, but also being a mother, I love the children. I didn't do it for virtuous, but because we had no other left. "
Really commendable, but we are no longer in the 60s and today,where the progress is seen for mothers who do not want to give up anything, their children or their professional life? How is that welfare state sought? In the article, we only find a reference to the fact that women need to remain "super women", regardless of daycare centers, the help of the state of dependency law.
But there is no talk of, for example, a extension of leave and maternity and paternity leave, or other help to care for minor children at home, or the equalization of single-parent families ...
That hole in the "welfare state" maybe would not be so big by looking (all) plus the welfare of the little ones, looking for other solutions, various formulas there are, only that they need more support and echo in society.
