Mother as primary caregiver debate

The NHS

recommends that infants are breastfed for at least the first 6 months of life as it protects them from infections/disease and builds a strong physical/emotional bond between the mother and baby

So what?-NHS

This supports the mother as primary caregiver as it suggests the mother is the only person who can adequately provide for both the physical and emotional needs of the child as the father is unable to breastfeed and may not develop the same strong bond with the child as the mother

Harlow

placed infant monkeys with two wire monkeys, the monkeys spent more time with the cloth mother that offered comfort than the one that offered food. This shows that comfort is more important in bonding than food

So what?- Harlow

This goes against the mother as primary caregiver as it questions whether only the mother can provide for the infants needs and suggests another person might also be able to provide adequate care, going against the mother as primary caregiver. This is because breastfeeding might not be the only route to bonding with an infant.

Social implication of mother as primary caregiver

This negatively impacts women’s role in society as if women are the only ones capable of providing adequate care for an infant it will pressure them into staying home instead of returning to work

Conclusion of MPC

In conclusion, research shows that the mother being primary caregiver is great for the infant but overall it doesn’t just have to be the mother who is primary caregiver as this can start to pull society backwards in ways of thinking

Feldman

Men’s brains adapt to the level of responsibility they carry for their infants, and their brain becomes more maternal but to develop this they need daily caregiving activities to ignite the mothering network

So what?- Feldman

This goes against the mother as primary caregiver as it suggests the role of fathers is changing. This is because it’s being discovered that fathers can ignite the mothering network in their brain as long as they spend more time with their infants, meaning they are able to give adequate care, just like the mother

Parsons

Through socialisation women and men feel pressure to conform to societal stereotypes of the mother being primary caregiver as that is more ‘feminine’ and the father going back to work instead of being primary caregiver as that is more ‘masculine’

So what?- parsons

This supports the mother as primary caregiver as it suggests although fathers can provide care for their child, the mother’s care will always be of higher quality. This is because women have been molded to be the primary caregiver by society as they are forced to conform to the stereotype of being nurturing.

Social implications of FPC

Recognising the role of fathers as primary caregivers has positively changed paternity rights in the UK, allowing men to take more time of off work to care for their infant

Conclusion of FPC

In conclusion, research shows that fathers are just as capable as mothers of caring for their infants.

NICHD

Children in child care had better language and cognitive development and were more cooperative in the first 4 and a half years of life.

So what?- NICHD

This goes against mother as primary caregiver because is shows that when children have time away from their mother, their primary caregiver, they are able to step out of their comfort zone and socialise with other people and develop new skills whereas if they were with their mother constantly they would become too reliant on her.

Andersson

Did research into day cares in Texas and Sweden, found that children in Sweden had lower aggression levels whereas children in Texas had high aggression levels. Day cares in Sweden are high quality whereas in Texas they have low standard requirements.

So what?- Anderson

This supports the mother as primary caregiver because unless your child is attending a high quality daycare they are most likely to obtain negative attributes due to the low quality care being given whereas if the child was with the mother they would receive high quality care.

Economic implication of daycare

In order for a child to not be negatively impacted by daycare they have to attend a high quality one but these types of daycares are probably very expensive, most likely costing twice as much as the lower quality daycares, meaning parents who can’t afford these high quality daycares, there children are going to suffer for it

Conclusion of daycare