The Raising of America Series: Early Childhood 

and the Future of Our Nation

 View the video series trailer  (11 minutes)

It’s often said a society can be measured by how well it attends to its children—their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialization, and their sense of being loved and valued by their families and communities. So how is it that children in the U.S. have worse outcomes on most measures of health, education and well-being than other rich nations? How can we do better?

The Raising of America takes us inside the brain and brings to life recent scientific research that reveals how early experiences, beginning in the womb, can alter brain architecture and developmental trajectories. Through the stories of families from different walks of life, we discover how the lack of paid parental leave and high-quality affordable childcare, stagnant wages and overcrowded housing, depression and social exclusion, and perhaps most of all the time crunch, too often undermine the efforts of parents and caregivers struggling to provide the nurturing environments all children need to thrive.

By exploring how things got this way—the history of U.S. child and family policy over the past century, the victories as well as the defeats—The Raising of America seeks to better understand what stands in the way of progress, and what we can do better. The film lifts up those struggling to make good on a vision where all our children matter, all are nurtured and all have opportunities to thrive. 

For more information, click here.