'We're wading through the childcare quagmire as best we can. It's all-hands-on-deck. And it's messy, stressy, wonky and punctuated with arguments. But its equal graft.'
Bestselling authors Anna Whitehouse and Matt Farquharson return with Divide and Conquer, a unique and honest account of facing up to the perils of modern-day parenthood.
Relationship? What relationship?
Drawn from the writers' expertise and tireless Flex Appeal campaigning, the project is split into two A6 parts.
In Divide, each gives a separate, warts-and-all perspective on how having children affected their lives - mind, body, work, and the struggles in between.
In Conquer, Anna and Matt come together in the wake of their divorce to offer real and workable advice on how to make parenting work for you. And how to navigate the eye-watering reality of childcare.
For wannabee parents, parents to be, new parents, co-parents, single parents and parents of any other stripes, Divide and Conquer is a little black manifesto for doing things your own way, (together or apart). However that looks.
Words on Divide and Conquer
Anna Whitehouse
"This is a book about making childcare infrastructure. A part of our economy. A part of our working world. A world that doesn’t simply strap the burden of childcare (and costs) to female shoulders.
"Because right now, raising the next generation in the UK feels akin to a relentless and demanding side hustle. With thanks to lacklustre support from government ministers whose own families are typically supported by nannies.
"In its simplest form, Divide and Conquer is about getting talented employees back into the economy. It’s about cold, hard, cash and unblocking a flight of talent - mainly mothers - who had a baby not a lobotomy."
Matt Farquharson
"The juggle of work and caring has been the single largest impact in our lives for 10 years. More than work success and failures, more than huge, sweeping personal issues.
"More, even, than our recent decision to divorce. And that tends to be the case for anyone with those responsibilities. We wanted to tell people it's not them that's failing it's the system, and give ways to fix it.
"Divide is about the problem. We have some of the highest childcare costs, lowest wages, most expensive housing in the world. The economics of existing with kids don't currently work.
"Conquer is how we can go about fixing it. Individually, collectively, nationally. It is a very practical guide: how to negotiate with your work, how to push for a change of laws, practical measures for joint carers, resources for parents and their support network. Conquer will give you everything available to rise to this challenge."
