I’m Sarah Jaffe, author of Wanting What’s Best: Parenting, Privilege, and Building a Just World. As an attorney for children in the foster care system, I was tasked with advocating for the most vulnerable children in our nation. But once I became a mother, I was troubled by the stark difference between the lives of the children I met at work and the lives of the children I met in her parenting life. Was my only duty as a parent to get “the best” for my own daughter? Or did I have an obligation to try to make decisions that would help make a more equitable society?
In my search for answers, I interviewed parents and experts to understand the key issues in our educational systems (from child care to college), activism, and privileges like wealth, legacy, and inheritance. The result is a book that gives parents straight answers on some of the most complex issues we face, along with actionable ideas and questions to ask to help them make future parenting decisions with perspective, parity, and purpose.