Philosophers have not traditionally given much thought to parenting. But with fewer and fewer people choosing to have children and birth rates dangerously in decline, it is perhaps time to look more radically at how we bring up children. Central to our lives and society it is something we have thought to be known and understood. But recent studies show 82% of parents show signs of burnout defined by things like anxiety, and depression. And almost half of all children experience the family splitting up during childhood. Some turn to anthropology for the answer, citing hunter-gatherer ancestors where children were looked after by many in the tribe. While some radical feminists call for the abolition of the nuclear family and a modern style of communal living where responsibility for children is shared.
Do we need to adopt radically different ways of raising children? Would they address gender inequalities, raise the birth rate, and improve the experience of childhood? Or are parents the only people we can rely on to care for children and is it essential that the family remains central?