Written by Julian Portious Archbishop Emeritus of Hobart
Published on www.graceandtruth.com.au
22nd April 2026
Historically, women, in the main, have assumed roles in society centred on domestic responsibilities. During the twentieth and twenty first centuries the rise of the feminist movement has dramatically changed the status of women and has heavily influenced women’s self-understanding. The first wave of feminism began in the early 1900s seeking the right of women to vote. In the latter half of the twentieth century the feminist movement focused women entering the work force and advocating for workplace equality.
At the present time the focus is on challenging what it sees as patriarchal structures and seeks representation in male-dominated fields of work and sport, as well as fighting against what it sees as systemic inequalities.
The feminist movement has not only changed the place of women in society but has placed many new expectations on women.
Women of today find themselves expected to excel in both the professional and the domestic spheres. This dual burden can lead to stress and burnout.
The role of motherhood has shifted from a primarily stay-at-home, caregiving role to a complex hybrid model requiring them to balance career and parenting. As a result of focussing initially on advancing their careers mothers today are having children later. This has required them to deal with the higher pressure to having to advance their career before having children and then contend with returning to work while raising a child to ensure that they do not lose their career opportunities.
Women who had their first child in the 1950s and 1960s had the experience of being able to be full time mothers. Under conditions of full employment and high male wages, many families could live on one income. This is no longer the case.
Women who had children in the 1970s and 1980s had their experiences shaped by second-wave feminism. The society came to believe that a woman’s potential would be reached beyond having and raising children. The availability of birth control and abortion meant that many women felt that they could pursue a career as their first option.
Women’s participation in the work force was supported by the expansion of Institutional childcare which, by our time, has been seen as a right. Governments have responded to the demand for childcare by subsidizing childcare services.
Motherhood is being seen by many in the feminist movement as something of choice rather than an expectation. The role of wife and mother has come to be viewed as an inferior role and often viewed in a negative light, inferring that women are being denied the liberty to fully live out their potential. Women who pursue their own careers apart from motherhood are met with social applause. There are now powerful economic and social pressures exerted against full-time motherhood.
But there is a cost to this progress. Research shows that many women prefer either to be full-time mothers or to work part-time rather than to pursue full-time careers. However, many working mothers are required by their economic circumstances to contribute to the household income.
The irony is that these women are, in a sense, in a similar position to that of women of earlier times in that they are required to perform roles and engage in everyday tasks contrary to their wishes. They are prisoners not of their husbands but of economic pressures that are sometimes exacerbated by social ones.
What has also suffered in this social change is that parenting is being devalued. A parent plays a vital and unique role in shaping the life of the child. A parent is irreplaceable in this. No other person or institution can do what a parent does for the psychological formation of their child. Indeed, the parent shapes the life of the child not only in early years but through the whole course of life.
Motherhood is a more important task for the good of society than any other private occupation or public service. We, as a society, need to find a way so that no woman who would choose full-time motherhood should be unduly constrained by economic or social pressures to give up her all-important vocation.
At the recent Aspire Conference held in Sydney Erica Komisar, a clinical social worker and psychoanalyst, described her experience of seeing rising levels of stress in young children. She pointed to studies that link institutional care of young children from birth to three years old with measurable increase in stress hormone levels, behavioural issues, anxiety and heightened aggression.
She commented that children are born neurologically fragile. They are not capable of regulating their emotions or nervous systems, nor manage extreme stress until they are at least three years of age. She said that the capacity for resilience is built on the nurturing of a primary attachment figure, usually the mother.
Her assessment is that “many of our structures, however well intentioned, place increasing emotional demands on young children at precisely the developmental age when they are least equipped to manage them”.
Erica sends a warning about the possible effects of early childcare on children’s psychological wellbeing. Institutional childcare simply cannot replace the role that a mother can play.
Erica ended her talk with a quote from CS Lewis, “Children are not a distraction from more important work, they are the most important work”. Motherhood is vital to the wellbeing of children, especially in their youngest years.
There is a need to reassess the wisdom of placing children in childcare before the age of three. To enable mothers to provide appropriate care for the children needs a thorough rethink on the part of our society.
