Paid Parental Leave

I firmly believe the United States should adopt parental leave policies similar to those instituted in Europe, as well as the European model of universal health care system.  I believe it would greatly benefit children and parents to have the year paid leave for the child’s first year.  It has been proven the best caretaker for a baby is its own parent(s).  Many negative effects have been linked to placing children in day care for their first year of life.  So, why does America refuse to catch up to the rest of the world, in regard to health care and placing value on children? America is supposed to be “Number One”.  It is obvious from our societal ills that the status quo just isn’t working.  As with every other issue in our country the problem can be traced back to the root issue of money, or actually more specifically greed. It is time for America to open its wallet and invest its resources into a resource beneficial for everyone, our children.  It seems America prefers to invest time and money to address problems later in life(many times unsuccessfully), than to part with money early on to invest in the future health and well being of child and family.  Today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders, wake up America!