Yes, we know you can’t afford to have children. But if the economy tanks because of the low birthrate, you’ll be to blameEveryone likes babies, don’t they, with their little tiny toes and the fact that they don’t do anything and are constantly doing th…
British ‘baby shortage’ could lead to economic decline, says thinktank
Social Market Foundation suggests measures including better childcare provision to increase birthrate Britain is facing a “baby shortage” that could lead to “long-term economic stagnation”, a thinktank has said.The Social Market Foundation (SMF) said t…
A tussle at nursery leaves our boy tearful…
But sadly for his dad, there’s only one person he wants to tell‘I want to talk to Mummy,’ my son bawled, as I picked him up from nursery.‘What’s the matter, pet?’ I replied, but he insisted this info was for her and her alone. My son experiences a rang…
New measures on freezing eggs leave women in the cold | Eva Wiseman
Why the government’s latest egg-freezing extension is cold comfort for womenThis morning, for the second time this week, I heard the phrase “drops off a cliff” during a discussion about fertility. The second time this week. Through my life, of course, …
I left a dream job to be closer to my autistic twin
The pandemic has forced many of us to rethink our lives, not least of which is how we work. For me, it meant returning homeTen days before our birthday, I drove my 2005 blue Nissan Sentra over the Verrazano Bridge and let the tears roll out. He didn’t …
It took my son’s meltdown and a lightbulb moment for me to stop parenting on autopilot | Conal Hanna
I always dealt with my son’s resistance to swimming class with cuddles, reassurance and rewards. Then one day I tried something radical: listening to him and empathisingSharing the Load is a column about parenting children of all agesHow can I stop my …
Lockdown has made UK families reconsider the cost of childcare – and they’re furious | Gaby Hinsliff
Somehow we have ended up with a system that’s too expensive for parents, but not lucrative enough to pay staff properlyBuild the tower up, only to knock it to the floor. When my son was tiny, he could play that game for hours. As he got older, often it…
‘There is so much bad behaviour everywhere’: how to raise a good child in a terrible world
Amid Trump, #MeToo and rising hate crime, science writer Melinda Wenner Moyer decided it was time to learn how to stop her kids becoming ‘assholes’. Her research became an unusual, much-needed parenting bookWhen Melinda Wenner Moyer looked around in th…
Postnatal depression is frightening, but seeking support helps the whole family | Saretta Lee
It affects up to 20% of women and can be as complex as depression at any stage of life. But support is thereThe modern mind is a column where experts discuss mental health issues they are seeing in their work“I want to be a good mother but I’m afraid. …
In a society that fetishises female self-sacrifice, saying ‘no’ saved me | Grace Jennings-Edquist
Women continue to take on a disproportionate amount of unpaid household labour and the ‘mental load’. But the road to ‘no’ can be a long oneAs a working mother, one word has saved me as the pandemic has worn on: “No.” I’ve learned to say “no” to being …