The Selfish Society argues that the government is so intent on getting mothers to return to work they are promoting nurseries at the cost of children’s emotional well-being.
Through research, Gerhardt found that our emotional systems our set up during the first two years of our lives. The area of the brain concerned is known as the prefrontal cortex and its purpose is to enable our awareness of both our emotions and the emotions of others. It is factors such as responsive parenting which cause dopamine to be released in the child’s brains, allowing the process of emotional awareness to develop.
When a child attends nursery before the age of two, the development process can be slowed, making children vulnerable to “personality disorders” later in life.
In the book, Gerhardt refers to a study which saw the separation of toddlers and their parents in a tuberculosis hospital. The estrangement caused several stages of adaptation. Firstly emotional deprivation, during which the child sought their mother, after which they became despairing before finally becoming emotionally detached. A similar process begins when a child is left at nursery.
Gerhardt stresses that the parents are not at fault and often face difficult decisions about returning to work. The blame lies in the hands of the government who promote nurseries. She suggests they would be better served by introducing a two year state-funded parenting wage, set at the level of the average income. This could be claimed by ether parent or shared between them if they wish and comes alongside another recommendation to reform employment legislation so that employers are required to keep positions open as well as offering flexible hours.
Though all of the above seems like an expensive leap, recent studies from the New Economics Foundation have actually found that an increase in investment during early childhood would cut social costs within ten years by reducing spending on prisons and mental health related NHS costs.
The Selfish Society by Sue Gerhardt is published on Thursday, April 1 (£12.99 Simon & Schuster)
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