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Motherhood Reflections

Truer words were not spoken: "In our society, there seems a general rule that, the more obviously one’s work benefits other people, the less one is likely to be paid for it". You only have to look around to see this to be true just about all the time. The only exception I can think of is a super-specialized surgeon who can save a life because their skills are truly unique and so they are very expensive. The rest of who makes money in the world around us are not doing work that obviously benefits other people.

As someone who could not afford to and did not want to have someone else take over raising my kid, this "illogic of the market" never made sense to me: Parenthood likewise forces an encounter with the illogic of the market: good fortune means getting to pay someone less than you make to do a job that’s harder and probably more important than your own. 

Parenting a child is the most significant work that a person can do in their life. To outsource that would make sense if you were paying someone way better qualified than you to do that job. Also that person would need to love and care for your child no less than you would. A very tall order but not impossible to fulfill if one had such resources to find such a person. Most people don't and when the market pushes them to do that higher paying job that is not nearly as essential, rewarding or meaningful as raising a child, they have to pay someone a pittance to do that job on their behalf. 

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