commissioner many of my constituents are babies and very young children and tonight i would like to speak on their behalf especially as there are many very good speakers tonight who can speak effectively for women in the workplace
the care a child receives in the earliest years will have an impact on him or her throughout life
many students of child development like maria montessori have noted the need a young child has for the presence of his or her mother or mother substitute
many of them have also noted a watershed in a child's development at two years and nine months after which it becomes safe for a child to spend periods of time away from his or her primary care-giver
in the last decade brain-imaging technology has backed up those observations demonstrating that there is a definite shift in the child's brain that allows him or her to internalise the primary care-giver usually the mother so that she is available to the child in active memory even when she is not present
at that time the child can understand that the mother or the substitute primary care-giver will come back and is not gone forever
of course life is not like that and mothers often work outside the home
they may want to work or choose to and even if they do not they may need to earn because mortgages must be paid and food must be put on the table
women have been a wonderful addition to the workforce
their inclusion and equal treatment is a matter of fundamental rights
however babies do not know nor are they able to consider what their mothers must or want to do
they are hardwired to need what they need
nature is a very powerful force
there are always consequences when we go against nature
having a loving invested mother is the ideal for a child which we should make every effort to accommodate where a woman wants to be available to her child in those early years
this is because if that young child needs the constant reassuring presence of its mother not having her will have an impact despite all the very worthy reasons for her absence
however as i said women work and we must do our best to at least ensure that if someone other than the primary care-giver is taking care of the child below the age of two years nine months that it is someone who can give the child as nurturing a care as possible
some children are fortunate enough to receive this care from secondary care-givers like fathers grandparents other relatives close neighbours people who are committed to them and part of their life on an ongoing basis
however this is simply not the lot of most babies and toddlers who would be cared for in childcare facilities
it behoves us to ensure that those facilities are clean safe stimulating and above all nurturing and are not just holding centres
children are our future
the foundation they receive is of utmost importance but the time space and nurturing children need to grow and develop fully is becoming a luxury afforded to fewer and fewer
for better or for worse we are shaping europe's future by how we raise our children
i would ask the commission to view this issue for a moment from a child's point of view
if you could ask a baby whether it wanted its mum or a day-care centre it would always choose mum
we need to listen to that child as mothers do and to help them find a way to reconcile home and work to the benefit of both
