2026-03-05
8 分钟Hi, this is Charlotte Howard, one of the hosts of Checks and Balance, our U.S.
podcast.
Welcome to Editors Picks.
Here's an article we recommend from the latest edition of The Economist.
We hope you enjoy it.
Imagine a hard-up family.
The mother has given birth to her second child.
The government paid for her prenatal care, the birth and her newborn's medical expenses.
She will get four-fifths of her wages during five months of maternity leave and her husband will take three paid months off both under a government scheme.
Later, they can count on subsidised child care and child tax credits.
By the time her infant son is off to nursery,
her daughter will be free and can enrol in state-funded pre-kindergarten.
Either parent losing their job would be bad, of course, but not catastrophic.
Unemployment benefits would replace much of their wages for a while.
If things got really dire, they could get food assistance.
It all sounds like France or Germany, certainly not America,
with its low taxes and skimpy social programs.
It is in fact available to families earning around $50,000 a year in Massachusetts.
More than a dozen other states, including big ones like California and New York,
also offer citizens a European-style bargain of higher taxes and generous welfare.