Letter to the Editor: “An Oscar for Motherhood”

Dear Editor:

A few days ago, Jessie Buckley moved thousands when she dedicated her Oscar for Best Actress to “the beautiful chaos that is a mother’s heart,” stating that the award is also for the vital role that mothers play in the world. She put into words a shared and deeply real experience that has not been adequately addressed.

Being a mother today is a very difficult task; there are few support networks and a very precarious balance between personal fulfillment, professional development, and child-rearing. In Chile, raising a child costs an average of more than $595,000 per month (more than the minimum wage); 85% of single-caregiver households are headed by women; and unemployment continues to affect women more than men.

This is consistent with a news story published yesterday in this publication, which warns of an unprecedented birth rate crisis in our country: in 2025, there were 146,000 births, the lowest figure on record.

We are not only facing a generation that does not want to have children, but also a society that is not making it feasible to have them, and the impact is structural, leading to accelerated aging and growing pressure on social systems. This is something that will affect the entire population sooner rather than later.

That is why supporting caregivers is not just an individual matter—it is a priority for the country. The potential is there—as we see in the more than 2,500 women who have participated in our “Conversemos Mamá” program—but they still face barriers they cannot overcome on their own.

Supporting mothers with real support networks, trust, time, and the necessary resources is not just rhetoric: it is a strategic investment in the country’s future.

Fernanda Orellana

Director of Children’s Programs at the Luksic Foundation