Trapped in America's Safety Net

Incredibly, the United States is one of only four nations—out of 173 for which data are available—that doesn’t offer paid maternity or parental leave for women (the other three are Liberia, Papua New Guinea, and Swaziland). 44 There is no national paid leave for family caregiving, either—just twelve weeks of unpaid leave for which only half are eligible and most can’t afford to take. 45 Also unlike many other advanced-economy countries, there is no universal public day care or preschool: only 58 percent of American three-to five-year-olds attend preschool, compared with 90 to 100 percent in much of Europe.