Person: Penelope Leach

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

opinion

Parents must be free to choose how best to rear their children

Cash payments work for families. Robert Putnam, the US author of Bowling Alone, quotes research showing that a €3,000-a-year-payment in a child’s first three years improves that child’s academic performance and increases his or her eventual salary by 20%.

Mothers working in their homes are among the most vital workers in any economy

Hopes fading that Children's Minister will take different view than her predecessor

We live in a society that neglects children but are loathe to admit it

Childcare plan is about boosting workforce not children or society

Babies don’t need mum at home for a year. They need her for three

Children are often left out of the picture

Couples who are separating or getting divorced need to think more about what’s best for their children.

Sun, 13 Jul, 2014

Second year of free preschool education will be of little real value

WHATEVER the new Cabinet dredges up to present as the buried treasure for which it is worth staying in Government, I hope it’s not a second year of free preschool education.

Thu, 10 Jul, 2014

We shouldn’t make it hard for parents to stay home and care for their children

HOW can any progress be made for children in Ireland if every single time anyone suggests an alternative approach to their care they are accused of wanting to send women back to the kitchen?

Thu, 06 Jun, 2013

VICTORIA WHITE: Our children don’t need corporate creches — all they need is love

BABIES shouldn’t go to creches.Nor should toddlers. Three-year-olds shouldn’t go to creche full-time. It’s as simple as that.

Thu, 30 May, 2013

Despite reports, there’s nothing wrong with looking after your kids

IT makes me want to tear my hair out when I read reports such as those on this week’s Dublin conference — Scandinavian Childcare: making it happen — because it seems no-one asks: what is childcare?

Thu, 07 Mar, 2013

Leaving babies to cry ‘can stunt brain development’

THE battle of the baby gurus has reawakened with research claiming that leaving little ones to cry themselves to sleep can stunt their brain development.

Sat, 24 Apr, 2010

Demands for 'cruel' show to be taken off air

There were demands today for the controversial Channel 4 programme 'Boys and Girls Alone' to be taken off air, as a group of leading child experts condemned the TV show as cruel.

Sat, 14 Feb, 2009

Book asks mums: Do you really need to work?

WORKING mothers need to step off the treadmill and start questioning whether they really need to work outside the home, a conference at University College Cork (UCC) will be told this weekend.

Thu, 22 May, 2008

Children poisoned by modern world, warn experts

CHILDHOOD is being lost to a dangerous combination of junk food, marketing and video games, experts have warned.

Wed, 13 Sep, 2006

Heterosexual cohabitants need to realise one thing: marriage works

IT never rains but it pours. First we have a same-sex couple seeking parity of esteem with married couples and similar tax breaks. Now advocates for cohabiting heterosexual couples are demanding more rights, too.

Wed, 24 Nov, 2004

Nursery ‘adversely affecting kids’

LONG periods of nursery care for children under the age of three may be producing more insecure and aggressive children, a childcare study suggests.

Fri, 20 Aug, 2004