America is brutal to families. Conservative policies are devastating families.

[kpete]

America in denial: We're number 29 (of 30)
US embraces policies and practices that place it at the bottom of advanced industrial nations for social outcomes.

American conservatives just love to yammer on about the family, as if they invented it. But the US record on family issues is no better than its record on health care. The family indicators are as follows, along with the US rank: teenage pregnancy births per 1,000 women aged 15-19 (28 out of 28); paid maternity leave entitlement as a percentage of annual wage (29/29); public spending on family benefits in cash, services and tax measures (26/29); child poverty rate (25/26); family-time index (22/27); percentage of young people (0-14) living with both parents (21/23); percentage of young adolescents living with both parents (26/26); and divorce rate (30). All together, the US comes in dead last in the combined index of family indicators.

These low rankings are directly related to conservative practices and social policies. Divorce rates and teen pregnancy rates are both higher in "red states", a result of patterns of family formation according to law professors Naomi Cahn and June Carbone in their book Red Families v. Blue Families: Legal Polarisation and the Creation of Culture. Even aside from culture, practices like "abstinence only" sex education and restrictive access to birth control both make for higher teen pregnancy rates. In the US, conservative politicians even opposed unpaid maternity leave - no wonder the US is the only advanced industrial nation with zero weeks of paid maternity leave - and very low rates of any public spending in the way of family support. In short, conservatives really are uniquely responsible for the United States' poor showing in the family category - the exact opposite of what they tend to believe.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/07/2012717104035237926.html

[Wounded Bear]

1. The most 'family friendly' thing a society can offer is....

a good paying job with decent benefits.

[el_bryanto]

4. and reasonable hours. I'm amazed at how many jobs seem to require 50-60 hour weeks

It's industry standard - but how are you going to enjoy a family you never get to see?

Bryant

[Wounded Bear]

5. So true....

Conserves cry about the family, but won't support policies that would allow families to survive, and dare I say thrive, on a single income.

All their crap about suppressing gay rights and abortion is a bunch of bullshit to distract while they're robbing people of their very souls.

[ananda]

2. This is so wrong.

Just so wrong.

[Quantess]

3. A lot of defensive comments at the end of the article.

Which is a shame. One first has to admit there is a problem before anything will improve.
Life in the US is still great in many ways, as far as I know. But the USA isnät the best at many things, anymore.