Every high-income country in the world has a paid maternity leave policy — except the US. Most have a paternity leave policy, too. And, usually, some form of universal or subsidized child care for all families. The United States has … none of these policies.
It did have federally funded child care once. And Congress even passed a universal child care policy in the ’70s. But today, the US is stuck on a policy path of welfare and tax credits. So why hasn’t the US been able to establish these common family policies?
Further reading:
- “The Promise of Preschool” is a great dive into the history of child care policy in the US.
- Anna Danziger Halperin’s research on the US and UK policies.
- The OECD has put together profiles on almost every rich country and their child policies. Look up yours.
- UNICEF put together a great report on where rich countries stand with child care policies. The US is number 40 — out of 41.
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