Fathers aren’t from Mars

Hence the rise of the eastern European au pair, barely out of her teens, escorting the pre-school children to Wimbledon Park, or negotiating the people carrier through Hampstead to pick up little Sophie and Edmund after school. Professor Lewis’s report suggests as much concluding that in 36% of dual-income families, it is the father more than any other individual who cares for the children when the mother is at work. What happens with the other 64%, I ask?

Am I sounding too negative? Only if you’re feeling a twinge of guilt.

The other day my wife and I listed all our other married friends with children and found that, apart from ourselves, only two other couples out of 13 had a parent who stayed at home full-time to raise the children. Two others (both mothers) worked part-time, but the other eight couples had nannies. This is what I mean by the ‘new nanny state’.

In the old days, when three generations would live under one roof, a grandparent would often help raise the children. Nowadays, grandparents are increasingly considered a nuisance and shunted off to the nearest nursing home. A nanny is preferable to a granny, especially if she looks like Anna Kournikova. She creates a great impression with the other Dads when picking up little Sophie and Edmund at the school gate!