We want to increase women’s participation in the labour market. In what socioeconomic context do we want more women in the workforce? A detailed answer comes from research on a neuroscientific model of sustainability related to motherhood, which, when it declines, heralds a ‘dejuvenilised’ community. Dr Vecram Addithyen (aka Sathesh Kumar), a scholar of Eastern human health, published the research in the book Eggonomics, the data of which are reported here. In 2024, the World Bank found an inverse correlation between female labour force participation and family stability in high-income countries, challenging the dogma that dual-earner families are an absolute good. In the same year, a World Health Organisation report estimated the divorce rate in high-income countries at 47%, while mental disorders among young people increased by 35%. According to the OECD Economic Outlook (2024), countries with female labour force participation above 70% often face declining birth rates and increasing family stress. A 2023 study published in the Journal of Neuroscience found that consistent maternal presence in the first five years of a child’s life increases brain harmony, reducing stress-related disorders by up to 25% in adulthood. The scientific journal Frontiers in Psychology (2024) indicated that close, frequent parent-child relationships reduce stress hormone levels in children by 40%.
Nevertheless, in our rush to productivity, we have traded the essential role of parents in caring for their offspring for work commitments and screen time, leaving children emotionally adrift and society struggling. A 2024 UNICEF report finds that children living in dual-parent households spend an average of 40% less time with their parents than their peers before the 1980s; a gap filled by digital screens. Another 2024 study on child development links early screen use to a 20% decline in empathy within the first 10 years of life. Scandinavia offers a counterpoint: Sweden’s 480-day parental leave, split between parents, keeps maternal presence high: divorce rates stand at 35%, birth rates at 1.8% (World Bank, 2024), and youth well-being tops the charts (World Happiness Report, 2024). By funding maternity leave, Sweden increases GDP by 2% in the long term (Journal of Public Economics, 2024). That is in contrast to the United States, where 12 weeks of unpaid leave pushes mothers back to work, with a 45% divorce rate and rising adolescent anxiety.
Furthermore, life’s constant rush to satisfy productive activity starves creativity. Overworked parents are a model of tension, not imagination. A Harvard Business Review study found that 60% of workers feel too exhausted to take creative risks and exercise their exploratory and experimental faculties. Progress is at stake. The time has come to examine which side of the scales of life lies. Does the weight placed on work and its productivity define value? If the answer is yes, we must pay attention and then intervene to promote another value: that which comes from caring for oneself and one’s family. An unbalanced balance leads to negative consequences on a person’s mental and physical health, with suffering that falls on the family and the community. The World Happiness Report (2024) links the decline in family cohesion to a 20% drop in social trust since 2000. Schools lose prestige and credibility, crime increases, and the polarisation of income, wealth, and individual and social well-being worsens.
