By global standards, the United States used to be a great country for working women. But these days, we look hopelessly behind the times. As the White House noted in a recent economic report, American women between the ages of 25 and 54, which are considered an adult’s prime career years, are now less likely to be employed or on the job market than women in much of the developed world. On that score, we’re closer to Japan, a country still trying to overcome its history of hostility toward women in the workplace, than we are to Canada or Europe.

The picture doesn’t improve much if you broaden it out. According to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, there were at least 18 rich countries where prime-age women were more likely to be employed than the United States in 2013, the last year with data. Aside from South Korea, which has a strong patriarchal culture, we were faring better than Greece, Italy, Spain, and Ireland—countries that were still digging their way out of […]