No one can dispute the importance of raising a child. Most parents, holding a new baby, face the most monumental work of their life. Perhaps the reason we often deny caregivers the social position and the respect they deserve is that we are uncomfortable with our absence from the particular chair they occupy, many hours of the day, many days of the year.

"Slightly more than four million babies are born in the United States every year, and 55 percent of their mothers remain in the work force."

Wow. That's a lot of children who need care.