Yes. When women entered the work force en-masse, we kept the structure of work, which had been designed with the assumption that there was someone at home full time.

So today, for most people with kids, the kids are shuttled off to day care, or kept after school, or forced into myriad after-school activities, spelling the end of carefree after-school time for kids.

What we need to do is face the fact that if both parents work full time, then either the definition of “full time” needs to change so that it is less than 40 hours/week, or couples with kids need someone at home — someone to hold down the fort, and always be available.

We have turned family life into a rat race. No longer do people sit together for breakfast — they “grab” snack bars and rush out the door. No longer do they eat dinner together. No longer can the kids leave school at 3pm and have the afternoon to themselves — those were the most precious times in my own personal memory.

It was unstructured time that was the most blissful. That unstructured time was what defined childhood, for me. Today we have taken that away.

People are trying to have it all. If both parents work, they need a caretaker at home. If they can’t afford that, then they need to reduce something about their standard of living. Working full time with kids requires someone at home — assuming that you don’t want to cheat your kids out of their childhood.