Unhappy Families: Childcare in a Hopeless World

Adam Ferner’s engaging and personal book explores the ethical dimensions of childcare in a world riven by conflict and inequality. He argues that widespread attitudes towards biological parenthood contribute to these worsening crises and examines the liberatory potential of foster-care and adoption.

Written in a clear and jargon-free style, the book is informed by both Ferner’s training as a philosopher and his extensive experience as a child support worker. His analysis foregrounds the concerns of young people largely marginalized by society, and he argues against the prevailing orthodoxy that hope is a necessary element of childcare. The book challenges us to look afresh at our everyday notions of parenthood, childcare and having children, and to question the dominant ethos of the family.

Adam Ferner is a freelance writer and child support worker living in North London. He has a PhD in philosophy from Birkbeck University of London and is author of Think Differently (2016, a W H Smiths’ bestseller), How to Disagree (2018, with Darren Chetty) and The Philosopher’s Library (2021, with Chris Meyns).