Our new baby is a lot of work and a lot of lost sleep. My wife does the majority of the work, but I still lose a lot of sleep and productivity.
I am a libertarian and prefer minimal government involvement, but if the government is to do anything in the entitlements area, I think there is a good case to be made to pay mothers. They are the ones that continue our species after all!
We currently have a miniscule tax break for parents, but I would change that to something like the median individual salary for mothers. This could be adjusted upwards with more children. I would also like to see bonuses or something for raising children well. Maybe based on academic test results, no malnutrition or obesity, and athletic tests?
I have seen studies that show that adjusted for having children, women now make more money than men.
We had a massive cultural shift during WW2 to push women into the workplace to manufacture weapons for men fighting on the front. That change has stuck around, but I am not sure it is healthy for us as individual biological creatures or for us as a species. Women who want to work absolutely should be able to do so on an equal footing with men, but women who want to be stay at home mothers should be encouraged and rewarded just as strongly. We are asking far too much of women, an unfair ask, by saying women have to work in factories as well as raise good children. Each of those is a full time occupation.
Mothers deserve far more respect and support than our country provides.