Aleta Sprague

Much of the world recognizes early childhood education as a public good.

The US guarantees neither paid vacation nor weekly rest--lagging the rest of the world.

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback recently signed into law an unprecedented set of restrictions on how the state’s most economically vulnerable families can access and use their monthly cash assistance (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF).…

US voters’ faith in government is at an all-time low. Can policies targeting fundamental needs reverse this trend?

Last week concluded “Financial Capability Month,” an Obama administration effort affirming a national commitment to “equipping individuals with the knowledge and protections necessary to secure a stable financial future for themselves and their…

But the world still falls far short of supporting gender equity in care.

Nearly every other wealthy democracy has taken affirmative steps to make voting easy. In the U.S., it all depends on where you live.

The legislation translates tired clichés into real policy, by forcing states to prevent low-income residents from using their Electronic Benefit Transfer cards for transactions at casinos, liquor stores and “adult entertainment” establishments.…

Some countries permanently improved their sick leave policies in response to the pandemic--the US was not among them.

With the Senate the next to consider paid leave, opponents are still saying it’s too expensive. Yet as our data shows, nearly every country — 186 — provides paid leave to new mothers, the majority provide paid leave to fathers, and 181 countries…

A baby who was born prematurely and is now nine weeks old, is carried in a car seat by his father as they leave hospital after being discharged from the Lancashire Women and Newborn Centre of Burnley General Hospital in East Lancashire, in Burnley,…

On International Women’s Day, the evidence on shared gains is clear.

Unequivocal protections against discrimination are critical to countries’ resilience.

Rachel Black and Aleta Sprague wrote for The Washington Post on how the GOP is reusing an old stereotype in the tax cut brawl: Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) supports the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which saw its funding lapse Oct. 1, and said…

On April 16, 2015, Kansas governor Sam Brownback signed into law an unprecedented set of restrictions on how the state’s most economically vulnerable families can access and use their monthly cash assistance (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families,…

As the Delta variant drives a new surge in COVID-19 cases and more Americans begin returning to in-person work, the need for paid sick and medical leave for all is clearly urgent. We’ve already seen that when paid leave is available, COVID-19…

On March 11, the Senate blocked a proposal to provide Americans with two weeks of emergency paid sick leave. While similar proposals have come before Congress for decades, as the threat of coronavirus escalates, federal lawmakers’ longstanding…

The Florida Supreme Court recently issued a long-awaited ruling stripping the right to vote from citizens with a felony conviction until they’ve paid all fines and fees associated with their incarceration. The ruling comes less than a year after…

And countries worldwide show how far the US lags behind.

Amidst the ongoing constitutional battles over impeachment, let’s not lose sight of another constitutional debate that could affect the health of tens of millions of Americans. On Friday, state attorneys general and plaintiffs weighed in on whether…