When we met Luis Marquez while conducting a multiyear study on working conditions around the world, he was a single parent raising his two children, aged 5 and 8, and working as a security guard in Massachusetts. His employer offered no paid leave, flexibility, or time off—a typical situation for lower-level workers in the United States, which has next to no legislated work protections. When his children got sick and required care, Marquez had no choice but to miss work without pay. Even…

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Read more stories by Jody Heymann.