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The Atlantic
Parents Are Sacrificing Their Social Lives on the Altar of Intensive Parenting
Inequality has seemingly caused many American parents to jettison friendships and activities in order to invest more resources in their kids.
Getty / The Atlantic
Over the past few decades, American parents have been pressured into making a costly wager: If they sacrifice their hobbies, interests, and friendships to devote as much time and as many resources as possible to parenting, they might be able to launch their children into a stable adulthood. While this gamble sometimes pays off, parents who give themselves over to this intensive form of child-rearing may find themselves at a loss when their children are grown and don’t need them as much.
Black, Latina and immigrant mothers are losing jobs as COVID-19 child care crisis grows Claire Thornton, USA TODAY
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Serena Wills starts her day by helping her son log on to his virtual classroom. She spends the next eight hours making sure he keeps the video camera on at all times and stays focused when he attends small group teaching sessions for students with learning disabilities.
Since she lost her job managing invoices as an administrative assistant, Wills has devoted her days to making sure her child is safe and healthy. She feeds him, helps him learn and, when the holiday season began, she asked friends and family to buy him Christmas gifts because she couldn t afford all the things on his list this year.
Serena Wills starts her day by helping her son log on to his virtual classroom. She spends the next eight hours making sure he keeps the video camera on at all times and stays focused when he attends small group teaching sessions for students with learning disabilities.
Since she lost her job managing invoices as an administrative assistant, Wills has devoted her days to making sure her child is safe and healthy. She feeds him, helps him learn and, when the holiday season began, she asked friends and family to buy him Christmas gifts because she couldn t afford all the things on his list this year.