It is interpreted that ‘mothers’ are the biological mothers and ‘nannies’ are those who take over the role of a mother.

It was a conventional practice for a long time that the husband ventures out to seek the household’s income. Of the income earned, the bulk of it was spent on food, shelter and clothing. The remainder was spent on others which were crudely defined as the unnecessary or luxuries.

The wife was given the honour and the trust to take charge of the home, the cooking and the children. One should acknowledge that these are not easy tasks unless the wife is reasonably educated, self-dedicated, self-disciplined, has proper time management and most importantly. renders love in abundance.

At the same time, she has to be strict with the children when it comes to discipline and education. It is really not an overstatement to call her the ‘queen of the house’.

But what is happening today is paving the way for the destruction of the family institution. The moral values and the discipline among our children have dipped tremendously. The food prepared for the family is done in haste and mostly (the lunch) less nutritious. Why?

It is shocking to realise that more than 75% of married couples are mutual wage earners. This means that the children are under the care of the maid (who hardly speaks any English) or nanny (reasonably educated) or with close acquaintances and relatives.

The parents are quite restless and do not have peace of mind when doing their work. A lot of parents call home frequently to check on their children and their maids. To the extreme, many parents installed CCTVs in their homes to have a first-hand look at what is going on in their houses.

Previously, the children had less contact with their dads and this was treated as normal. However, today the contact time with their mothers too has reduced to a bare minimum. Now, the younger children seem to be very much attached to the maid, nanny or others in the house as compared to their moms.

There are significant cases where the child is attached to the dad more than the mother. Some children fall sick when the maid or nanny take leave. Some mothers feel envious and jealous of this scenario. Even if the maid or the nanny seems very caring, there is a certain element of doubt in this sincerity as there is no blood relationship between the child and the nanny.

Working couples claim that it is a necessity for both of them to work as the salary they get is low. The salaries would obviously be low if many applied for jobs. If only one of the couple applied, the demand for workers would increase tremendously and the wages would increase. Thus one person’s income would be sufficient for the family.

Why do the wives shun being ‘queens of the house’ and instead go for employment? Many of them are now highly-educated and it seems to be a waste if they stay on as ‘queen of house’. The husbands, too, are to be blamed for not valuing, honouring and respecting the contributions of housewives.

There are a lot of mothers who are in dilemma between choosing their family’s well-being and having a successful career. In the end, they end up choosing one halfheartedly. I am sure if many half-day positions (four hours work a day) were created, many mothers would gladly accept such positions as it would give them more time to spend with their families.

Some can work the morning shift and the others the evening shift. Of course, the shifts could be swapped between them. I hope the human resource ministry will encourage and promote the creation of such opportunities for mothers who desire such chances.

My conclusion is that parents should assess whether there is a need for both of them to work. Serious consideration should be given to non-monetary aspects of such a decision.