Letter from Managing Editor

Even if belatedly, India’s middle class — and especially upper middle class — is expanding. According to a recent Goldman Sachs report, 7 percent of Indians will earn a annual per capita income of $10,000 (Rs.8.4 lakh) by 2027. Though as a percentage that’s small, given the country’s total population of 1.4 billion, numerically it adds up to 100 million — a population greater than Britain and France. And this sizeable minority is driving demand for electronic goods and gadgets, jewellery, domestic and foreign holidays, and powering stock market indices. Higher up the chain, India hosts nearly 764,000 dollar millionaires, individuals with net worth of more than Rs.7.5 crore.

Apart from social tensions arising from steep income and wealth disparity, the growing wealth and economic prosperity of a sizeable minority has created a problem that sociologists describe as ‘affluenza parenting’ — wealthy parents over-indulging their children. As a large number of newly affluent parents concede to every whim and demand of their progeny, a new generation of I-me-myself children and youth is running amok countrywide. With traditional patriarchy out of fashion, a large and growing number of parents are molly-coddling princelings who believe they are entitled to special privileges and preferential treatment at home, school, workplaces and public spaces.

While sociologists and parenting experts have been warning about the pitfalls of affluenza parenting for some time, the recent case of a 17-year-old teen who rammed his luxury Porsche car into two motor-cycle borne IT professionals killing them instantly in Pune, has beamed a harsh spotlight on the dangers of permissive parenting. In our cover story this month, we discuss why it’s important for parents to strike a balance between indulgent and responsible parenting. It’s becoming increasingly urgent for parents to draw the line between providing material comfort, emotional warmth and responsible nurturance and over-indulging children. Good manners, empathy, social responsibility, patience and capability to accept discipline and guidance are essential virtues required for children and youth to develop into good, contributing citizens.

This timely cover story apart, there’s other rich content in this issue of PW. Check out our Middle Years essay in which counselor Akanksha Pandey advises parents to focus on developing children’s emotional intelligence and Special Essay in which two Canada-based child psychologists discuss ways and means to raise emotionally secure and confident children. Also recommended is the informative Health & Nutrition column penned by Delhi-based developmental pediatrician Dr. Tarun Singh highlighting the symptoms and treatment of constipation in children.