Taking Parenting Public makes a compelling case that parenting has become dangerously undervalued in America today. It calls for a new investmentboth personal and publicinto the work of raising children and argues that we are all 'stockholders' in the next generation. With a foreword by Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Cornel West, Taking Parenting Public crosses boundaries to bring together thinkers from diverse fields spanning the political spectrum. It features contributions from distinguished experts in economics, political science, public policy, child development, public health, history, and the media. While recent books have focused on working mothers or absent fathers, Taking Parenting Public is the first volume to take a comprehensive look at the common struggles of parents. These essays go beyond the usual calls for more and better child care and other strategies of 'parent replacement' to offer fresh ideas for 'parent replenishment,' ways of putting mothers and fathers back into the lives of their children not only as economic providers, but also as emotional and moral providers. For more information visit theNational Parenting Association Web site.

Sylvia Ann Hewlett is founder and chairman of the National Parenting Association. Her books include A Lesser Life, When the Bough Breaks, and co-author with Cornel West of The War Against Parents. Nancy Rankin is the former executive director of the National Parenting Association. Cornel West is the Alphonse Fletcher Jr. University Professor at Harvard University. He is the author of numerous articles and books including Prophetic Fragments, Race Matters, and The War Against Parents, co-authored with Sylvia Hewlett.

Chapter 1 Foreword: The ChallengeChapter 2 IntroductionPart 3 The Cultural MarketplaceChapter 4 On Rekindling a Spirit of "Home Training": A Mother's Notes from the FrontChapter 5 Empty Parenthood: The Loss of Parental Authority in the Postmodern FamilyChapter 6 FromFather Knows Best toThe SimpsonsOn TV, Parenting Has Lost Its HaloPart 7 The Economic MarketplaceChapter 8 The Economic Status of Parents in Postwar AmericaChapter 9 Time Crunch Among American ParentsChapter 10 Low-Income Parents and the Time FaminePart 11 The Political MarketplaceChapter 12 Political Trends Among American Parents: The 1950s to 1996Chapter 13 Taxes and the Family: A Conservative PerspectiveChapter 14 Observations on Some Proposals to Help Parents: A Progressive PerspectiveChapter 15 Back to the Future: A GI Bill for the 21st CenturyPart 16 Building Public Will and Political Power to Help ParentsChapter 17 The Paths from HereChapter 18 What It Will Take to Build a Family-Friendly AmericaChapter 19 The Emerging Fatherhood Movement: Making Room for DaddyChapter 20 The Parent VoteChapter 21 Fixing Social Insecurity: A Proposal to Finance ParenthoodPart 22 Conclusion: Taking Parenting Public