This book has both personal and professional roots. It is about a

zi: concern- common to both of us though we live and work in cultures

~, that are in many respects different - with the lives of women and

:~, children inokritain today, and with the question of how beliefs about

the development of children affect those lives. Exclusive mothering

(as opposed to fathering and care by others) is stressed in Britain

today - stressed as crucial for the well-being of our children. But

what kinds of care do babies really need in order to thrive ? What are

the consequences of other kinds of care ? For financial reasons, many

women cannot provide this exclusive mothering. They have to

work. And many other women want to be involved in employment

- outside the home. Are they subjecting their children to stressful or

i damaging experiences ? How can they judge the quality of care other

an their own? One focus of the book is this: the quesnon of how

rents can best meet the needs of their children at different ages

ant1 stages, f~ ,

A second focus is the question of w~y~ere is the emphasis today

on exclusive mothering. Other societies, and our own culture at

i other times, have not stressed the exclusive importance of mothers

for their children s normal development. The quesnon led us to

trace the development of current ideas about mothers roles and

children s needs - the changing image of motherhood in Britain. A

: glimpse of how that image has altered with social, economic and

~litical changes in our world should alert us to be sceptical of

il dogmatic pronouncements on the crucial importance of exclusive

!i~ mothering.

!~ Yet mothers faced with making decisions about their family and

i their work frequently hear only the dogmatic pronouncements on

i~ the dire consequences of a decision to work. Our hope in writing this

i!" book is that information about mothers, children and child care will