Who are the stakeholders?

There was much coverage yesterday of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report that the cost of child care is putting some families below the minimum wage. This follows hard on the comments of Andrea Leadsom that because of her children she is more of a stakeholder in society than Theresa May.

I found myself reflecting on these as I undertook the tedious job of clearing my garage for a consignment of wine. Like many my garage, or in some homes  loft, is a kind of ante chamber of stuff I don’t want to cast away but never require on a daily basis. In one crate I found a collection of family photographs which first saddened me, as many were of my late parents but also would be of some use in a memoir I am writing of my parents. My late mother had various sayings she repeated all her life, one being that “in the end all you have is the photographs” in the context of a big social family event she was hosting e.g. the 2 barmitvahs of her sons.  My pondering continued to reflect on the way some children late in their own life take care of their elderly parents. This is a subject much and sensitively covered on these pages. My brother and I devoted ourselves to our parents’ care in the twilight of their lives. We like to think we did a good job of keeping them together and not consigning one to a care home, running a large house comprising 5 dental practices employing 35 people, managing finances and carers and, sometimes on a daily basis, making difficult medical calls. The social services were involved but not always helpfully – nor was the interference of some relatives. We pressed on regardless, we did our best unqualified as we were, we might have made mistakes but our parents’s welfare was always the foremost consideration.

I mention all 0f this as I see myself for it as much a stakeholder as somebody with  children though I play a significant role in the upbringing of my Godchild Jamie. Single life is not all care-free beer and skittles: I had to spend all morning yesterday indoors in expectation of the wine delivery between 9-12. Any single person will tell you that imprecise delivery times are the bane of their life. I accept the Joseph Rowntree report was more based on household economics and Andrea Leadsom was seeking an advantage over her fellow candidate but I will never accept that the childless person is in some way inferior to the parent in his  family responsibilities.