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America’s child care system is failing families. Just ask the Treasury Department.
Sep 15, 2021

America’s child care system is failing families. Just ask the Treasury Department.

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Plus: how some dads have helped shift caregiving workloads, what import and export prices can tell us about inflation and PepsiCo takes on its plastic problem.

Segments From this episode

Import prices declined unexpectedly in August

Sep 15, 2021
These prices may be a bellwether of where domestic or worldwide inflation are headed, says Cornell economist Eswar Prasad.
A container vessel passes under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in New York. Although import prices eased in August, they were up 9% year over year.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

Treasury says U.S. child care system is a market failure

Sep 15, 2021
The Biden administration is calling for Congress to expand existing programs and tax credits, as well as provide universal preschool.
A Treasury Department report released Wednesday argues that the child care industry is failing families because of inadequate availability and high costs.
Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images

The container price surge is weighing on the customs business

Sep 15, 2021
Tariffs used to be the main concern for customs broker Gretchen Blough's clients. Now, it's all about the shipping containers.
Trucks with shipping containers sit on a dock at the Port of Oakland on Sept. 9. Container prices have soared during the pandemic.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Pepsi pledges to halve unrecycled plastic in packaging by 2030

Sep 15, 2021
The single-serving plastic bottle has been the target of pushback against plastic pollution for decades.
PepsiCo is increasing the recycled content of its packaging. Younger consumers are paying attention to the environmental impact of the products they consider buying, analysts say.
Tim Boyle via Getty Images

Can Germany – Europe’s biggest carbon polluter – clean up its act?

Sep 15, 2021
Germany has pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2045. Is that achievable?
Steam and exhaust rise from the chemical company and coking plant in Oberhausen, Germany in January 2017.
Lukas Schulze via Getty Images

How have dads been stepping up as caregivers during the pandemic?

Sep 15, 2021
Dads have played a more active role in domestic labor and caregiving during the pandemic. That's helped moms — just not enough.
With more fathers at home during the pandemic, housework and child care has become more equal.
FG Trade via Getty Images

Music from the episode

The team

Nancy Farghalli Executive Producer
Maria Hollenhorst Producer II
Sean McHenry Director & Associate Producer II
Richard Cunningham Associate Producer I
Dylan Miettinen Associate Digital Producer