The United States should better support the parents of young children, argues professor Dana Suskind.

Compared to similar countries, the US has the largest happiness gap between the 63 million parents and the child-free. This statistic is not shocking when you consider how other societies support parents with things like paid parental leave and high-quality childcare.

In her new book, Parent Nation: Unlocking Every Child’s Potential, Fulfilling Society’s Promise (Dutton, 2022), the University of Chicago professor makes the case for how America can—and should—improve societal support for parents during the early childhood period.

Through her work as director of the Pediatric Cochlear Implant Program and co-director of the Thirty Million Words Initiative, Suskind has observed why the first three years of a child’s life are the most crucial for their brain development.

She argues that investing in early childhood by supporting parents—notably, paid parental and family leave—is not only beneficial for them, but also for our economy and society.

Hear the episode of the Big Brains podcast here, or read the transcript:

Source: University of Chicago