The importance of close relations

I often hear people talking about how important it is that we make sure people are employed and that the GDP needs to increase. Always we measure in money whether our society is gaining value.
But it ought not to be a goal in itself. Because people's happiness is built on the quality of their close relationships, our society must be built on people taking care of one another within the family, delegating to societal institutions only if that isn't working out. For our close relations to be positive, time is needed, from the start to bond and through the entire life.

It is time that we recognize the importance of both mother and father in the child's life. It is time that children can take care of their aging parents, and that it is valued by our society. In Sweden, we are so used to the institutions taking care of individuals, that we forget that we can do it ourselves, and that we actually might prefer to do that.

Let employers get used to the idea that fathers should stay with the mother and baby the first few weeks to bond, just like the mother does with her new baby. Let people who measure the degree of welfare of a country take into account the many hours of unpaid childcare that parents provide for their own children. Encourage parents to support one another to have good relationships to their kids and to each other. Of all the things a parent might do, he or she will probably make many mistakes, but if we value the relationship higher than any other thing, we will see each other, we will apologize when we fail, and we will grow as human beings.