Recent family-related news included a new policy in China permitting couples to have three children, a midair wedding of an Indian couple that is being investigated and a finding that some ‘alone time’ could bring much needed relief to parents. In the United States, childcare is being looked at as an important, and often overlooked, infrastructure issue and some tips on how to manage your finances during a pandemic divorce.
Emily Peck, The New York Times, May 9, 2021
For years parents and child-care advocates sounded the alarm about the inadequate child-care system in the United States. “Basically if we can deliver water and electricity and internet to every home in this country we should be able to create good care options for everyone,” Ai-jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and Caring Across Generations, and a leader in the push to treat care as infrastructure, said in a recent interview.
Laura Wheatman Hill, CNBC, May 17, 2021
The author writes: “My marriage was one of many pandemic divorces. I don’t need to get into the specifics regarding reasons, but, when it comes to finances, I’m happy to talk details…Now that I’m coming up on six months since my divorce became official, I can say — proudly and with great relief — that I feel financially stable.”
Jancee Dunn, The New York Times, May 19, 2021
Allowing someone 24 hours of rest, or even just a few hours of undisturbed time with themselves, “can change the way they can show up for others,” said Nedra Tawwab, a therapist in Charlotte, N.C., and author of “Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself.” “Many parents don’t have the downtime needed to restore themselves. It’s restorative to do nothing, and to be granted the ability to do nothing is a loving act.”
Sameer Yasir, The New York Times, May 25, 2021
The authorities in southern India are investigating a couple who are reported to have chartered a plane and performed a marriage ritual in midair in front of scores of guests, a breach of Covid-19 guidelines in a country that is being devastated by a second wave of the coronavirus.
Sui-Lee Wee, The New York Times, Updated June 1, 2021
China said on Monday that it would allow all married couples to have three children, ending a two-child policy that has failed to raise the country’s declining birthrates and avert a demographic crisis. The announcement by the ruling Communist Party represents an acknowledgment that its limits on reproduction, the world’s toughest, have jeopardized the country’s future. But it is far from clear that relaxing the policy further will pay off.