A society dies if it lacks child raisers. It literally dies if it does not produce children. It dies a slower death if it produces children but does not raise them.

Over the past century or two, life has become more difficult for child raisers. We have moved our work places further and further from our homes and communities. First, fathers left to work longer distances away from their children. Recently, mothers have followed the male model, working long distances from home.

Community, the village that helps raise a child, became less important. We separated first into nuclear families, then couples, now singles with perhaps an unmarried partner in tow.

Children, who need a great deal of care in the first years of life, are a hindrance both to the career-oriented lifestyles we have come to admire and the pleasure-oriented life others of us follow.

No one should be shamed into having children. Parenthood is a calling, and it is not for everyone. However, we need caring space for those who do want to become parents—time off to nurture their offspring, decent housing and schools, safe neighborhoods.

Our society lives or dies on how well we raise our children. How do we bring child raising back into the mainstream?