But the study in question does not have to be seen as an attack on working mothers. If it turns out that there are problems with child care we didn't know about, two responses are plausible. The first is to improve the quality of child care. These approaches are not mutually exclusive. What's required is a truce.
Society thus has an interest in making that care better.
Therefore, the labor market shouldn't penalize parents as much as it does when they try to meet their obligations at home. The enemy is our collective failure to acknowledge that we're not doing as well as we could by our children. A heartening sign that the culture wars can be overcome came in a study released this week by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. It turns out that most Americans, adults and teens alike, reject this polarity. Three quarters of adults and 56 percent of teens think the two strategies go together.