Always has been, always will be, type of sentiment.
I don't think it's automatically an always will be, but I think it's a vile part of nature - as I said, we see it in other animals - that we have to accept rather than the cultural concept that parents, mothers particularly, always love and enjoy and know what's best for their kids.
I agree that better mental health care, particularly for new mums is important, but I also think we need better spaces for older kids so they can spend less time in a home when they feel threatened & can get a range of guidance when the one at home is lacking.
most of the time their mothers.
This is similar to the stat on child abuse - we have to remember, mothers are most often the ones who spend more time around their children compared to fathers so are the ones most likely to cause harm purely by the significant differentces there.
If we look at the stats compared to how much contact someone has, a male parent or really, not-really-parent (particularly one who is not biologically related, aren't consistently or ever in a parenting role and young/Under 25) are the most risky.
I don't understand why they would not just leave, get themselves out of the house instead, but cite pressure or stress.
I've often wondered this at least with my own mother, it's long baffled me why she didn't leave, why she made everyone else leave instead (separate to what she did to me, she kicked out my father and both of my siblings, one after the other, and remained in that house for a couple years by herself for reasons I still have to guess at).
Part I was think cultural, trying to meet expectations, but I think a large part was territorial in a way - that was her house (at times her car) I was the invader, I should leave. When she was trying to get me to kill myself, her language was always how I needed to go somewhere else, I was the problem so I needed to leave, similar language was used when she threatened and then tried to kill me. I was a problem she was getting rid of and out of her space.
I found other people made the excuses around how stressed and pressured she was far more than she did. She would call me a burden to demean me, but it was other people who brought up the stressed and pressure and not well and I notice that in media coverage as well. I think at a cultural level, I don't think we can accept that sometimes, death is the desired acceptable outcome among a range of other options they knew were available rather than the last ditch effort of someone out of control - that happens, but I don't think it's as common as is portrayed. My mother could have sent me to my father or grandparents or other relatives - she had before, she could have just not been there, she could have left. I don't know why she wanted me specifically dead, but she did and excuses around stress and pressure were - I think unaware to the well intended people - just fed into my mother's narrative that I was burden to be unloaded, a problem to solved. It made me even less of a person to her.
I once got great advice on closure, since I'll never get that in the traditional sense of having her admit it was wrong, that might be useful - If you can't understand why someone would do something so horrible, it's because you aren't currently someone who would do that. In fixing the issues that lead to the terrible deaths, I do think we do better understanding if only to better see warning signs to help kids, but I think for those upset by these stats and news, I've found that useful.