I grew up in the 70's, when the culture wars in America were raging in earnest. One theater of those wars was whether mothers should take paying jobs or not, and one battle there revolved around the worth of public childcare. The conservative viewpoint was that childcare from a mother was always superior to that from daycare, and thus choosing a dual-income lifestyle always meant compromising your children.
Now that I'm old and have kids ... yikes. To an extent, I will agree -- a mother (or father) who is motivated, loving, and competent will most likely raise a child better than your average daycare. I wish all parents were motivated, loving, and competent, but I can't really say they all are. I'd rather see kids in daycare than staying with a mother who watches TV all day (and crappy daytime TV at that) and feeds the kids a diet of chips, twinkies and soda.
Of course, there's the whole issue of what mothers want to do. If my wife worked, and I had to choose between watching the kids or putting them in daycare, I don't know how that would play out. I love my kids, and like being with them ... but raising them alone five days a week ... yikes. That would be challenging, and chances are I would find my current career more entertaining and fulfilling.
Good parenting is hard, and not always automatic. There's something to be said for having your children raised by experienced, quality professionals. Of course, whether that's the average state of daycare in America is another subject ... don't get me started.
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