Defend nannies to oppose the nanny state

Many parents will choose long-day care, either because they think it delivers the best outcomes, or because their personal circumstances dictate it. Other parents will want to keep their children at home through all their pre-school years. Some will choose a mix of both.

And, in the long-run, it probably won't make too much difference.

Bryan Caplan, a professor of economics at George Mason University, has extensively studied adoption and twin research and shown that, while upbringing might have some effects during childhood, once children reach adulthood they will revert to the path their nature pre-ordained for them in matters such as financial success, health, happiness and values. Twins, who are separated at birth, and adopted out, end up closer to each other on a range of criteria, than either one does to his or her adoptive family.

So, instead of mandating a particular form of childcare, let parents decide and resist the Childcare Alliance's push to get the nanny state to crack down on nannies.