I'm Brian Lehrer.

This is my daily politics podcast from WNYC Studios.

It's Monday, October 11th.

Central to President Biden's build back better or reconciliation plan, as it's often called,

is a new model and much more money for child care in the United States. A look around the world shows what an outlier the U.S. is.

Each year, the United States spends only about $500 per child on early child care. That number in

other wealthy countries, on average, is $14,000 per year.

And it's not just those Scandinavian countries, right? People always point to as examples of

governments that promote and prioritize the well-being of their citizens. We're talking about countries

like Slovenia, which spends 22 times more than the United States on early

childhood care. Lithuania and Chile, which spends 16 to 17 times as much as the U.S. on

child care, according to recent reporting. But as Congress negotiates the details of the

reconciliation package,

proposals for increased child care spending are likely to meet the chopping block. So with me now

to talk about the scarcity of child care funding in this country is Bryce Covert, an independent

journalist who covers the economy. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the nation, and elsewhere. And yes, this is the same Bryce Covert who tweeted yesterday,

sure, a Pulitzer would be nice, but I just got my two-year-old to willingly and happily eat kale.

So that's basically the same thing. So Bryce, congratulations on your faux Pulitzer for toddler

taste blood cultivation and welcome to WNYC. Thank you so much and thanks for having me.

So Bryce, $500 per year on early child care, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation

and Development, that international group, and the Hamilton Project.

In practice, what does that look like and where does that place us in a global context?

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