Unlike other rich countries, the United States has few universal federal family policies, like paid leave or child care subsidies. During the women’s movement of the 1970s, the country considered the idea that government and employer policies could help parents work and care for their families, as Kirsten Swinth, a history professor at Fordham, has written. But the Reagan era ushered in a different idea — that the government should not interfere in family life.

“This was very compelling — ‘I want control over how I raise my kids,’” said Professor Swinth, who studies women’s and economic history. “But practically, it meant that the systems that would aid parents, especially as women went into the workplace, like after-school and summer care, didn’t get funded.”

“We’re crushing parents under an enormous burden, for the benefit of society, and we’re sort of free-riding” on them, Professor Swinth said.