The Gruffalo years


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Readers' comments




I agree that in many ways it's a good thing. But as the article notes, these are mostly high-flying couples with child-minders. Their experience of bringing up children is hardly representative. What they don't experience, above all, is having to worry about money.


Which makes it all the more depressing that so many libraries are closing due to coalition cuts depriving millions of children access to the Gruffalo and other books. There's always Amazon for the well-off so it looks like the poorest will pay while bankers receive their bonuses. We're all in this together...although some of us are in it more than others


Enjoyable article. Observant analysis.

Now if our politicians could just steer the economy upwards and aim more towards that second star to the right.

Lyn Whitfield

A striking number of Britain's senior politicians have young children says the headline. This is true. Yet every politician mentioned in the article is a man. Female politicians do exist. But even when they get a mention it won't be an approving one if they're trying to get to the top while their children are small.

This matters, because the article suggests (while possibly not being aware of this) that the senior politicians mentioned have a very particular view of parenting. Namely, that it consists of coming home from work and reading a book to a child that somebody else has taken care of, with the care paid for by the work.

It's certainly true that we have a clique of politicians at Westminster who share a view of child rearing that sees it as a matter of having the child read the right things, go to the right school, and follow dad into the family firm / law / politics. Whether that's particularly helpful to the rest of the country is another matter.


Porangi, I think we are violently agreeing with each other regarding the benefits libraries provide. For library users about to lose a vital community service it is irrelevant whether the decision to cut is made in Westminster or Town Hall.
In this instance it is obvious that central government is outsourcing its dirty work to Councils.
Eric Pickles' comments regarding cutting everything else before cutting libraries was a particularly cynical and political move attempting to distance himself from his own massive cuts.
I'm not sure what evidence there is for saying that Councils undervalue libraries - my library service has been excellent in recent years with appropriate investment ensuring a good value for money public service. Unfortunately the proposed cuts will put this service back decades and make it more costly in the long run.


Tonyjrob, it is a tragedy that libraries are closing. How much of that is because Westminster said "close libraries" and how much is due to the local councils making that decision, placing libraries below other services they provide. I think it is the latter and I think the prioritisation is wrong. Libraries offer a fantastic environment for children to learn the pleasure of learning, the joy of knowledge. Sowing that seed early can change their perception of knowledge, and their potential for achievement, for the rest of their lives. Libraries are key to a thriving society. They are undervalued by the councils that control them.


As a teacher in China, I spend a lot of time with the parents of five to twelve year olds explaining the significance of “The King’s New Clothes”, and how to get that kind of valuable, sometimes priceless intelligence from their child without loosing face. It’s Peaches & Cream sometimes, especially for the bosses, big-shots, and kings. ;-)

Well-balanced intention

Somehow this article seems too light for the Economist. I feel that this article would better have been published as a "serious and heavy piece" in a ladies' magazine.

G Rappard

I suppose this article may strike more of a chord with those of us who have children in the same age bracket than those who do not. I think it is one of this Bagehot's best pieces. And that is saying something.

While recognising that the particular examples cited are both male and well off, the conclusions drawn are just as valid for those who are female and/or rather less financially secure. One does not need money to spend time with one's children, nor to want them to be happy. Equally, although the spouses/partners of these individuals appear to be very high powered, they must surely have gained an insight into the juggling act that most mothers have to perform in raising children.

Absolutely agree about the importance of libraries, although I am probably more with Mr Pickles on the question of who's responsible for library closures.


I would hope that having children would also make politicians think more of the long term instead of just thinking of the next election



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