“Who's going to pay for it?” is always the question, but there is a deeper and more insidious issue: RACISM. If you look back as to why the so-called richest country in the world treats the majority of its citizens like shit, it's because of racism and anti-blackness specifically.
Many whites in this country do not want non-whites to benefit from social programs that would benefit everyone. They would rather all citizens suffer under the guise of the bootstrap mentality. Racism is built into every fabric of our society for over 400 years. This country can afford universal pre-k, universal healthcare, robust maternity leave, free college, and so much more but that would mean ALL Americans would benefit.
The Ezra Klein podcast has a great episode on this from 2021.
Drained-pool politics — if “they” can also have it, then no one can — helps explain why America still doesn’t have a truly universal health care system, a child care system, a decent social safety net. McGhee, the former president of the think tank Demos, offers a devastating tour of American public policy, and she shows how drained-pool politics have led to less for everyone, not just their intended targets.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/16/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-heather-mcghee.html
In the United States, the antiwork and worker's rights movements will never truly succeed until America's racist past and present are properly addressed. It definitely won't happen in my lifetime but I hope one day the younger generations can make changes and know what it's like to live happy and healthy.
ETA: Thanks to another poster, I want to add that a lot of the racism I am talking about in my post is unconscious racism/unconscious bias. Many don't actively think “I would rather die than give healthcare to everyone including black people!” but it shows up in other ways.