Focus on the Family

I just finished reviewing both Mr. Kerry's and President Bush's official election websites. I found their issues on work vs. family very interesting.

Mr. Kerry's site pointed out that with the majority of families with both parents working, parents spend on average 12 hours less than they use to with their children 20 years ago. Setting my opinions aside until later, Mr. Kerry's plan proposes a higher tax credit for child care and extending children's' afterschool programs until 6pm. These afterschool programs will address important issues like teen pregnancy and not using drugs. From these ideas, I get the impression Mr. Kerry is ok with parents spending less time with their children.

President Bush's site pointed out that 68% of mothers who have children under the age of 6 work full time. Also about 68% of all married families with children have both spouses working. President Bush's current and future plans include a proposal for allowing Comp time for overtime, meaning if someone has to work overtime, instead of getting paid more, they earn that time back to be used as more time off later. He also promoted abstinence-only education for use in schools. From these and other ideas, I get the impression President Bush feels families are important and that our current family lifestyle is not headed in the right direction.

Now for my opinion. This is not meant to be critical to single parents or married parents down on their luck economically, but our children need to be raised by their parents. I don't think it is ok to have children and expect day care centers and the school system to raise them for you. Under Mr. Kerry's suggested plan, it would be even easier to spend less time with your children.

I do think that one parent, Mother or Father, needs to be a homemaker or work part time at the most. Our children need our attention. They are our responsibility. We need to spend a lot of time with them. It isn't just quality, but quantity.

After reading about this issue and many others on their websites, I still think I am going to vote for President Bush, but I will always try to keep an open mind.