The drama behind parenting
The Women’s Health Network (Remusa) has just dropped a bombshell on Children’s Day: in Mexico, the care crisis is no longer a domestic problem, it is a public health emergency that is violating the rights of children. And be careful, they don’t talk about just anything—they talk about toxic stress, accidents at home due to lack of supervision, and delays in vaccinations. All because the State left the families alone.
“It will not be solved with individual monetary transfers, but with the creation of a solid public infrastructure that collectivizes the responsibility of raising.”
What they demand (and it is no small thing)
Remusa does not take half measures. They demand three specific things: reactivate and expand safe and free children’s rooms with trained staff; mandatory work-life balance policies, both in the public and private sectors, that include extended paternity leaves; and a comprehensive health approach for girls and boys in vulnerable contexts.
The diagnosis is brutal. Caregivers—almost always women—are overloaded, without state support, and that generates a domino effect: anxiety that is transmitted to the children, accidents because there is no one to watch, and incomplete vaccination schedules because health schedules clash with work hours.
The long-term bet
The Espinosa Yglesias Study Center confirms it: the lack of a care system limits child development and reduces equal opportunities from the cradle. When care is precarious, disadvantage begins early and continues throughout life—education, work, social mobility.
“When care is precarious or insufficient, the disadvantage begins in the early years and continues throughout life. The care system is not only well-being, it is equal opportunities from the cradle.”
This is not an NGO whim. It is a hard fact that should make any government that talks about the future tremble. Because, let’s be honest, if we don’t take care of those who come, what country are we building?
