Letter to the Editor: “An Oscar for Motherhood”

To the Editor:

In recent days, Jessie Buckley moved thousands when she dedicated her Best Actress Oscar to “the beautiful chaos that is a mother’s heart,” noting that the recognition also honors the fundamental role mothers play in the world. She put into words a deeply real and widely shared experience—one that has yet to be addressed as it deserves.

Motherhood today is an extraordinarily difficult undertaking. Support networks are scarce, and the balance between personal fulfillment, professional development, and caregiving is highly fragile. In Chile, raising a child costs on average more than CLP 595,000 per month—more than the minimum wage. Additionally, 85% of single-caregiver households are led by women, who continue to face higher unemployment rates.

This aligns with a report published in El Mercurio warning of an unprecedented birth rate crisis in our country: in 2025, there were 146,000 births—the lowest figure on record.

We are not simply facing a generation that does not want to have children, but a society that is not making it feasible to do so. The impact is structural, leading to accelerated aging and increasing pressure on social systems—an issue that will, sooner rather than later, affect the entire population.

This is why supporting those who provide care is not merely an individual matter; it is a national priority. The capabilities are there—we see it in the more than 2,500 women who have participated in our Conversemos Mamá program—but they continue to face barriers they cannot overcome on their own.

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

Fernanda Orellana
Director of Early Childhood
Fundación Luksic