Statistics from the Pew Research Centre shows that women are the breadwinners in four in ten US households that include children under the age of 18 – “quadruple the share in 1960”. This headline finding is a little misleading, though. If you look at the study in detail, you find that the proportion of women out-earning male partners in these families is actually just 22.5%. The 40% figure derives mainly from the huge surge in single-parent households, in which mothers are not the primary, but the sole, earner. Given the endless studies showing that children fare best in two-parent families, it’s not really a welcome development. It’s great that women are getting ahead in the workplace, but let’s not celebrate the fact that ever more children are growing up without fathers. (Kathleen Parker, Washington Post).

It must be incredibly difficult to bring up children, run a house, and do a job, even a part-time job, outside the home. How can you realistically give the children the time and attention they need? The more mother shrieks at the kids in her frustration, the less the children pay attention. On top of everything, the difficulty of dealing with grumpy, bolshie, disagreeable teenagers of either gender would test the patience of a saint.

Thus it is that too many young people are ending adolescence un-house-trained, undisciplined, bad mannered and selfish. They haven’t had to think of anyone to date except themselves. This is particularly bad for them and bad for society. Disfunctional families can breed disfunctional children. Period.

A pleasant, Epicurean, life means, among other things, persistence and determination in what you do, which cannot be achieved without self-discipline, and thus discipline. It means socialization, thinking of others, showing gratitude and concern where appropriate, being good company. You only get out of life what you put into it, and you need to be trained to be a rounded, functional, competent human being. There are, of course, those who are good citizens, despite their upbringing; goes without saying. But men have traditionally instilled discipline and manners into children, and today, as a society, we are not doing a good job. I don’t know what the answer is. You can’t stop couples having children; all you can do is ask the question, “Are you sure you can stay together for the 18 or so years it takes?”