A leader in the world economy, the U S still lags far behind the rest of the world on major social policy issues. The current political shift in the US has created opportunities to move work and family policy forward and to ensure that American workers are able to succeed in a globalized economy while caring for family members and supporting their children's education.WORK AND FAMILY POLICY: WHERE DOES THE US STAND?Research evidence clearly supports the importance of basic protections to the health and economic success of working adults and their families. Paid sick leave provides an important first example. Paid sick leave is essential to working adults' ability to obtain preventive care for their own health when they are sick, stay home to prevent workplace spread of infectious disease, and address chronic illnesses so they do not needlessly worsen while continuing to work.1 Across the world, 162 nations guarantee their workers access to paid sick days, with 156 countries providing a week or more annually. In the US, this right is not guaranteed.2Paid annual leave and a mandatory weekly rest period are important for workers to be able to care for themselves and their families. The right to paid leave is fundamental enough to be included in the UN declaration of human rights, the UN covenant of economic, social, and cultural rights, and in International Labour Organization conventions that have been widely signed globally. Worldwide, 162 countries mandate paid annual leave, 139 of which guarantee two weeks or more each year, and 157 require employers to provide a mandatory day of rest each week. Workers in the US are guaranteed neither.In addition to basic employee protections, transformations in the global workforce and in family structure mean that adults need basic rights to allow them to provide essential care for family members while working. These include paid parental leave, the ability of working mothers to breastfeed, and paid leave and work-time flexibility to deal with a realistic range of critical health and developmental needs of family members.Paid parental leave improves children's health and development by making more time available for parents to provide essential care. Paid maternity leave facilitates breastfeeding, and both maternity and paternity leave alike increase the likelihood that children will receive necessary immunizations. 3 Moreover, paid parental leave improves families' economic conditions by increasing long-term employment and earning prospects for parents. Given the importance of paid parental leave to children's health and family economic stability, 177 countries guarantee maternity leave and 75 ensure that fathers either receive paid paternity leave or have the right to paid parental leave. The US does not guarantee the right to paid maternity, paternity, or parental leave.Studies indicate a 1.5 to fivefold lower relative risk of mortality among breastfed children and lower rates of gastrointestinal and respiratory tract infections, meningitis, and malnutrition.4 This has led 132 countries to guarantee working mothers the right to breastfeed. The US does not offer women this guarantee.A series of studies has demonstrated that parental presence helps children recover more rapidly from illnesses and injuries, and improves both children's outcomes for acute and chronic illnesses and their mental health.5 Paid leave increases fivefold the likelihood that American working parents can care for sick children themselves. Yet, while at least 43 countries guarantee parents some form of paid leave for children's health problems, the US does not guarantee any.The divergent experiences of American families and those in other countries is not limited to working conditions. Access to quality early childhood care and education markedly enhances healthy child development, while increasing parents' ability to get and keep jobs, cut down on absenteeism, and improve overall job productivity. …