I basically agree, but that's not what OPs post was about. The fact is you cannot effectively work a full time information job while caring for children. WFH was never supposed to mean "childcare plus do some work when you have time".

Sure you can. There is no point in a child's life that requires undevoted attention 100% of the time.

There is no point in a child's life that requires 100% attention during the day.

Even once they reach preschool/primary they don't.

You are of the opinion that it is more important that an employee be available 100% of the time from 9 to 5, I am of the opinion that it is most important that an employee get their job done.

I would 100% prefer a competent employee where I have to block out some brief segment during the day, than someone less capable where I can schedule a meeting whenever I like from 9 to 5.

I would also 100% prefer an employee I can trust to do their job regardless of supervision than someone who needs hand holding for everything.

Handholding is for interns and new employees learning how to work in industry (vs. academia or opensource).

I expect FTEs to be able to do their job without persistent oversight, and I expect them to do their jobs without persistent oversight.

As a parent and a very crappy multitasker I try to be 100% present into what I am doing: spending time with my kids&family or working. Mixing the two doesn't really work for me and context-switching is also very costly.

Which is completely fair, but it's also wrong to do what folk are doing in this thread and state that that is universal, and that therefore at least one parent must be unemployed (I don't think that is the intent, but it is the outcome of what they are stating is fact: you can't WFH if you have kids, and therefore RTO is the only option, but you can't RTO if you have kids).

Doesn’t that depend how old the children are? Childcare in many cases simply involves simply being in the same building, preparing meals, etc.

as someone mentioned above, in the long run it's impossible to do any intense work with kids under 6 in the house, you end up either neglecting them (probably by giving them an ipad to stare into for hours), or you end up neglecting work by doing activities with the kids.

Above 6-7 yo they are obligated to go to school, unless you homeschool, which is also incompatible with fulltime, good faith employment.

Schools don’t run the entire workday nor the entire work year. Especially if you work at one of those employers that likes their employees to work long hours, with “unlimited” (i.e. zero) vacation days. But that’s a somewhat different social malady.

> The fact is you cannot effectively work a full time information job while caring for children.

The same goes for middle managers though.