Most of the developed world lavishes parents with help in raising children. America is almost alone among wealthy nations as a society in which even such fundamental necessities as day care, early education and parental leave are out of reach for many families. Which makes it all the more frustrating that the Biden administration has to trim back its ambitious proposed family-assistance plan in an effort to placate Democratic centrists.

Raising children is arguably the most important thing that most Americans will do — and the most expensive. Americans widely recognize the social importance of building strong families. So why doesn't the government match that recognition with action to make raising kids less difficult?

The New York Times recently contrasted the American approach with other wealthy nations, and the differences are shameful. European parents have an average of 14 months of paid leave and some form of public school available to kids by age 3. In Denmark, parents get government-subsidized day care for kids starting at age 2 and after-school options until age 10. In France, new parents get tax credits equal to 85% of their day care expenses.

In the United States, all but the lowest-income families are essentially on their own until their kids start kindergarten around age 5. If parents choose to stay home with their newborns, they can't count on guaranteed paid parental leave. If they choose to enroll their kids in day care, the cost is typically more than $1,000 a month (if they can find a spot), with that whole expense on the parents, regardless of income.

Biden's family-assistance plan, as originally conceived, would have brought the U.S. into the 21st century in terms of supporting families with a federal paid- and medical-leave program, continuation of the child tax credit that parents got this year, subsidized day care and universal pre-kindergarten. These aren't the radical social-engineering ideas that conservative extremists have claimed but merely a recognition that all of society has a stake in making it easier to raise kids and to start teaching and socializing them at an earlier age.

But even before the original $3.5 trillion social-spending plan had the chance to face the GOP's inevitable opposition, it's being whittled away by centrist Democrats, most notably Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Manchin is insisting on a top price tag of $1.5 trillion and making Republican-sounding noises about avoiding an "entitlement society."

The next time Manchin and the Republicans wax on about the importance of families — as politicians of all stripes always do — they should be pressed on why they aren't matching their words with actions. Meanwhile, American children will continue to languish in outmoded child care and educational systems while the rest of the developed world focuses on building a stronger and more prosperous next generation.

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