No doubt Americans have left the work force in record numbers recently for many reasons. Their leaving, in what is called “The Great Resignation,” caused a surge in job openings after our recent Covid pandemic.

One reason may be a desire of some parents, often mothers, but not always, to spend more time taking care of their families, especially in the sometimes frightening era we now live in.

What would happen if we decided, as some have suggested, to actually pay parents to take care of their small children themselves?

In our haste to, rightly, give women the same chance for careers as men, perhaps we forgot that both fathers and mothers might like more time with their children, especially young children.

We supposed that equal job opportunities for women equated to day care for their children so they could do so. We seemed not to have thought of allowing fathers more time for their children and at the same time making it easier for mothers to share in work outside the home.

Somehow we assumed that the desire for equal work opportunities automatically equated to everybody taking a paid job away from home from the time they reached adulthood.

Perhaps we could instead offer payment for a parent to spend the first few years of a child’s life as a full time parent, if they desire it.