You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic: The responsibility of bringing up children should be shared equally between mother and father. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.

The idea that both parents should contribute actively to bringing up their offspring would seem hard to dispute.

This

does not mean

however

that all tasks in the child rearing process should be shared equally. The idea of the tasks being shared equally between parents contains several assumptions. One assumption is that both parents have equal amounts of available time and are they available to do what is required at the present it is required. Clearly

this

is often not the case. If,

for example

, a kid needs help with some homework one evening and one parent is required to work late, the task falls to the other parent.

Therefore

, despite genuine attempts to share duties equally, it will not always be practically possible to do so. The

second

assumption which is implied by the idea of sharing tasks equally is that both parents are equally well prepared or skilled to do all tasks. Again,

this

is clearly not the case most of the time.

For instance

, it may be that the mother is a teacher and able to provide the kind of support the baby needs with their homework more effectively than the father. In theory, perhaps the best approach would be to

first

decide what the kid needs at any given moment, and

secondly

to assess which parent is in the best position to provide

this

need.

This

approach is aimed at using the parental resources most effectively, rather than 'equally'. In conclusion, it would seem that the 'equality' point of view may not always be in the child's best interest. A more effective approach might be for couples to agree on how they can best use their resources. Even if

this

is accomplished,

however

, it is unlikely to be achievable constantly due to practical restraints.