The first is the issue of free choice about how to raise kids. The state should not play favourites. Yes, daycare mums deserve deductions, but so do all other mums. Benefits should be allotted because all kids have value, and should not be conditional on labour force participation or the parent s marital status. The second is the issue of free choice of lifestyle.
Some parents choose to have dad at home, mum at home, or parents taking turns with the kids.
The state should not favour or penalize these choices. Once we start to value taking care of the young, we must include care giving as a profession, and count unpaid care giving labour as part of the GDP, as economist Marilyn Waring suggests we do, and we must allow people who undertake such labour to be treated like full adults. They should be able to con-tribute to the CPP, get their own RRSPs, and provide for their own retirement. To finally value raising children as a vibrant part of an economy would be for the state to remove its blinders and notice what women have done for centuries. Yes, women can do paid work very well.