In response to your post, I think this is a much-debated issue that ultimately, from my own reading experiences, can be solved by an improved, more accessible and affordable childcare system. These high-demand jobs, too, could benefit from offering childcare services on-site. And then there’s also the issue of men becoming the primary caregivers so that women aren’t essentially holding two jobs.

Yes! I feel like shaking my bony fists and shrieking “Preach sister!”. SO much of discourse related to this topic is woman-centered without giving fair time to the fact that many women are raising children within the constructs of a dual-parent household. Where does parent #2 fit into this discussion?

But ultimately, and this is what I was trying to get at in the post, women who give birth necessarily need some some off and many want to raise their children themselves, at least for the first year.

This desire does exclude them from a particular job sector and I’m not sure that affordable childcare, while definitely a start, can solve this entirely.

Maybe it all comes back to the idea of wanting. We want it all, although at some level we realize it isn’t possible, not at once.

When do we give it up?