Mom, a small three-letter word and there seem nothing extraordinary about it, but only a few realise that it is an ocean in itself. The love and care that she showers are immeasurable. We might have read numerous articles praising mothers for what they do for children from birth till the time they (children) leave them. However, have we ever wondered that if ‘Mother’s‘ were a product, sold in the market, how would its valuation be done? Which all factors would influence its price? Never thought of it? Then, this is what I will try to explain in this article.
We know that the phenomenon of the determination of the market price takes place through the market forces of demand and supply. When these forces become equal, the market clears itself and is said to be in equilibrium.
In the same way, the demand and supply forces of the mother’s love work. When a child is born, he/she does not know what love or demand/supply is. However, what he/she knows is that the women holding him is his mother, and this is who he wants with him all day and night. Unknowingly he or she develops a habit where at every point whether he is happy or sad, he needs his mother beside him. The same is the case with the mother. Even before the child is born, she develops such an unbreakable bond (at least from her side) and the child becomes her world.
All her acts are done, keeping in mind how it would affect her child. So, speaking in economic terms, the demand and supply of the mother’s love and vice versa are equal and hence, both get the level of satisfaction(utility) that they want. This continues until the time the child becomes independent. After the child enters into an age where he thinks he has become wise enough and can take all the decisions of his life independently, he starts devaluing the love and feels that the mother is pretentious and exaggerates every matter. So, the love that he used to have in childhood becomes a burden that he is unable to carry. This leads to an excessive decline in demand. Although the fact is, the supply never falls. It is always in excess because it is indefinite. So, this leads to a further decline in the value of the good, and it becomes almost valueless.
Now let’s look at the other aspect of it. The best day in a woman’s life, according to her, is the day when she comes to know that she is expecting. From that day onwards, she knows nothing else. Doing everything for the sake of the baby becomes her life. She goes through the unbearable pain with a big smile while giving birth to her little bundle of joy. Not only this, she vows to do anything and everything for protecting him, and in doing all this, she forgets herself and devotes all her life to her children. For this, she leaves everything, her job, her hobbies, her social life, her likes, dislikes and what not.
What we can say is that the opportunity cost that she bears is huge, and I feel that huge is a tiny word to measure what she goes through. I think it is next to impossible to convert it in monetary terms because if we try doing it, it will take a lifespan to find a value that equivalent to it.
So from this, we can derive that during our lifespan, there is an excess supply of the mother’s love and a substantial opportunity cost. Don’t you think that if there had been a market for it, it would have been the most expensive product in the economy and it might be possible that we would never be capable enough to pay the price for it?
So, it is high time we realise this and start valuing what we have before it is gone. We need to know as children what all costs she pays (without the intention of generating profits) in her life to make ours beautiful.
