Defense spending

Many people are unaware that Europe depends heavily on the USA to protect them from attack. The USA spends $700 billion per year on defense while all of Europe combined spend $250 billion. Even if you throw in Japan and South Korea you only add another $90 billion. Because these countries are allies and depend on the US for protection they can spend more on social programs like universal health care and in some cases higher education. The US lags behind in child care, paid maternity leave, paid vacation time and many other areas.