Scottish baby box highlights the failings of US childcare

Here with a hot take on America’s maternal care and child care systems. They’re terrible. The latest evidence of just how atrocious our country’s record on caring for pregnant women and their offspring comes courtesy of Tiktok, where a Scottish mother recorded a video in which she unboxes a government issued baby box. 

Apparently, this is a box issued free of charge to every Scottish mom when she is about to give birth, like every time, not just with the first baby. 

The box includes clothes in various sizes, toys, changing pads, brass pad sheets and blankets, and even optimistically, condoms. Oh, and it comes with a little mattress that fits inside the box which is itself designed to function as a crib once the baby is born. Wow. Just wow. 

Meanwhile, 16 months ago on our side of the pond, the Supreme Court’s dobs decision overturned Roe v Wade. And since then state after state after state has been limiting or outright just preventing women’s access to abortion. In many cases, even in pregnancies that threaten the health of the mother. And in many cases, even in pregnancies that resulted from rape or incest. 

You will be wholly unsurprised to discover that the vast majority of legislators pushing for these extreme limitations or outright bans are, yes, men. They appear very, very concerned about the well being of fetuses while caring like zero about the women that approximately 50% have said fetuses will grow up to become. 

Now interestingly, the number of abortions nationwide in the wake of the Dobbs decision has remained more or less steady. But that’s as a result of an increase in people traveling to get the procedure. And at this point, I don’t think I have to remind you just how much this creates a problem of access to populations who don’t have access to transportation or the financial or logistical means to leave the state. It creates a huge amount of inequity. 

Oh, one more thing. Did you know that the US is still the only developed nation on the planet that refuses to mandate paid parental leave? And that COVID required childcare subsidies were just allowed to expire making childcare even more expensive than ever before? True Stories. So while we in America watch the rights of women to control their own bodies be slowly decimated, Tick tock shows us just how beautiful the experience of becoming a new parent could be. If only our representatives prioritize, well, US.