Do you think kids are better off with their mom (or dad) staying at home with them or having both parents working but they have all the material things they want?

When I was growing up my father work days and my mother works nights so there was always a parent at home, it seemed to work out pretty good. As for getting all the material things we wanted well let's just say that never happened. :)

I think that we should try to find a balance. It is obvious that
a child would need material things in life. These would meet basic needs such
as food, clothes or shelter. However, they also require love and attention from
both their parents. So, the best option would be to try to give them both.

I missed my children growing up as I went in pursuit of career, advancement and money. Whether they missed me is less clear.

Every family is unique, and parents should be free to split the responsibilities in a way that works for them and their children ... And that can change during different seasons of life.

-I think material things can not take the place of effective parenting. Just sticking a kid in a roomful of toys teaches them nothing. Doing this as a practice is, in my view, a species of neglect.

-Children need to learn values, goals, communication, reasoning, self-worth, responsibility, respect, behavior,  social and motor skills that are incumbent upon parents to model and instruct. None are gained from material pacification.

The question that comes to my mind is why have children at all, if there is no will or time to train them to be productive adults in society? What kinds of childhood memories would these young people have?

Too many products of the material pacification model fill our welfare rolls already. 

Individual parents have human needs too.  (Maslow provides a good list of human needs in five categories.)

An unhappy parent who resents being required to stay home with the child is not going to be a fun person to be around, and may well come to resent the child with disastrous consequences for the child's development..

Fortunately, it usually is not an either / or situation.

(My mother, when I was about 12 was sick.  She said she was staying home from the hospital because she didn't want to leave me alone during the day.  (Read---be her servant.)

I tolder her to just go and not to do me any favors.

(Turns out much later in life that she admitted she never really wanted to be married and have kids.)

I think it depends on the individuals in question. Too many factors. What works for some, won't for others.

I've actually seen both work fine. Surprised me too, but after some thought and being open minded about other possibilities, I saw that many different combinations worked out well. My bias clouded my ability to see it in different ways. Common factors included, love, responsibility, apology, quality time and much more. I focus on the reality of the struggle of all families despite what they have to start with. You can have everything and have nothing, or vice versa.