According to a new study by Amber M. Epp and Sunaina R. Velagaleti in the Journal of Consumer Research, by outsourcing traditional parental duties, modern-day parents feel they are ultimately protecting parenthood by handing over traditional caregiving to professionals. 

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"Parents are increasingly outsourcing caregiving activities. The expanding array of caregiving services is blurring the boundaries between family and the marketplace and raising new questions about what is acceptable to outsource and how parents make sense of these sometimes contentious decisions," write Epp and Velagaleti.

The study notes that with the ever-quickening pace of today's society, parents simply do not have the time for such once-sacred logistics such as planning birthdays or teaching their children how to ride a bike. To fill the vacuum, an array of professional services stand at the ready, taking over parts of overburdened parents' schedules.

Epp and Velagaleti interviewed a broad swath of participants, noting factors such as what their definitions of parenting and parenthood are, income, social class, and the ability of other family members being able to step in and pick up the slack. The research showed that provided parents were able to maintain a high level of control over how incoming professions conducted their duties, thereby keeping intact their roles and perception as primary caregivers, there was less dubiousness about turning to the marketplace. The authors observed that achieving this balance helps parents maintain their feelings of responsibility, control, and intimacy.

The study lays out a blueprint for businesses in the caregiving and child-logistics industries to follow, and contradicts the commonsensical notion that the less direct involvement a parent has with a child leads to a distancing of the relationship between the two. 

"Our findings run counter to the widespread idea that family and the local community should always be the first and second lines of parenting help. Often times, businesses can resolve parenting tensions more effectively due to the contractual nature of the services they provide," the authors conclude.

Tagsparents, Parenting