Those of us who are not obliged to do so are more reluctant to believe it, but there are many families for whom the concept of "conciliation" exists only for the rich. Something we are doing wrong with childhood worldwide and something we will have to do sooner or later about it.
Because these days we have met with stupor that according to a report by Overseas Development Institute (ODI), a British study center focused on development policies, more than 35 million children under 5 years old around the world they stay home alone on a regular basis and “… It is not a reflection of the love that their parents have for them, but of the labor reality and the available resources.”
The figures are stubborn and show us that reality is much more hurtful than we can imagine when we talk about childhood.
The data in this report that Overseas Development Institute (ODI), presented these days in the United Kingdom, clearly shows a global crisis in child care, “Too many children in many parts of the world are not receiving adequate care” points out Emma Samman, ODI researcher and author of this shocking report.
Obviously there is no effort to realize that a child under five years old alone at home, has a higher risk of suffering an accident and even of dying while his parents are forced to go to work.
Working conditions are painful in most cases, the lack of support network is evident and the inability to pay someone to help, are the determining factors for children to be left alone at home. The circumstance inevitably causes those children sooner rather than later to be forced to abandon their studies with what closes, according to experts, the circle of misery about their lives and those of their communities.
Misery is a woman's name
The political instruments that are directed towards child care in the countries that ODI has analyzed, follow the model of developed countries, are based on the provisions offered by the labor market such as maternity or paternity leave and breastfeeding protection. Nothing else.
In a work environment as volatile as these countries, these measures are inconsistent, they cannot be applied precisely in the most bleeding cases. According to ODI being important policies are insufficient because most of the mothers, of the women, have working conditions in which the word "leave" is not known.
So really no, nothing is done for children in these countries. Countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Republic of Chad and Central African Republic in which the figure increases to more than half of the children, their children, those left alone at home by anyone or with some luck under the tutelage of an older brother.
It is a constant that it is the woman who spends more time in the care of minors than the father, which reduces the possibilities of women to access education, a labor market and therefore, also affects the type of work that you can access, your productivity and obviously your salary. Because we don't talk only about adult women, we don't talk exclusively about mothers, In this spiral of inequality, daughters, sisters and grandmothers are part of the group dedicated to poverty.
Emma Samman is blunt in the conclusions claiming the need to create real social protection policies that fit the needs of these caregivers and criticizing that governments worldwide have decided to ignore this crisis Who are living generations of women in the world: "... child care has been rejected on the political agenda ..."
And this is an undeniable fact, the passivity and lack of involvement of governments is robbing children now of millions of adults tomorrow.
Photos | unsplash
In Babies and More | So that no child is left in the shade: childhood in data | Investing in childhood is investing in education, don't politicians see it or don't they care?
