Parenting

Children in preschool raising their hands

New Mexico to be first U.S. state to launch universal child care system

By / / Good News For Humankind

A groundbreaking new law in New Mexico is making history by guaranteeing no-cost childcare for all families. This initiative is a strategic investment in the state’s future, designed to boost the economy by enabling parents, particularly mothers, to enter or re-enter the workforce. It also ensures quality by increasing provider pay to a minimum of $18 an hour. This progressive move sets a new national standard, proving that investing in children and families is a powerful path to long-term prosperity.

Midwife and mother

Virginia becomes first U.S. state to recognize autonomous midwifery practice

By / / Good News For Humankind

Autonomous midwifery practice enables midwives to conduct their professional work by providing evidence-based, high-quality, and ethical care across pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum, as well as providing other reproductive health care. Now, Virginia midwives can not only practice autonomously but also receive 100% free schedule reimbursement from private insurance and Medicaid. They can also serve on a 24-hour on-call duty roster for nursery care when physicians are unavailable, addressing staffing shortages in rural areas.

child and autumn leaves

Tokyo to make daycare free for all preschool children

By / / Good news links

The world’s most populous city plans to make daycare free for all preschool children starting in September, the city governor has announced. The move aims to reduce the financial burden on families by expanding a policy of free daycare for second-born and subsequent children to first-borns as well. While many developed countries are struggling with low birth rates, the problem is particularly acute in Japan where the population has been declining for years.

Contraceptives

Free contraception initiative helps Finland reduce teenage abortions by 66%

By / / Good news links

The number of abortions among women under 20 rose during the 1990s in Finland, leading the Nordic country to make morning-after pills available without prescription from 15 years of age and sexual education compulsory in all schools. As a result, the number of abortions fell 66% to 722 in 2023 from 2,144 in 2000 among all teenagers aged 19 or younger in Finland, while the drop was even steeper at 78% among those under 18 in the same period.

Packages of diapers

Tennessee to become the first U.S. state to provide some children’s diapers

By / / Good news links

According to the National Diaper Bank Network, 92% of families receiving diapers in Tennessee are working and still unable to afford an adequate supply of diapers. However, it was just announced that the state’s Medicaid program will officially start covering 100 diapers a month for newborns, infants, and one-year-olds in August 2024, becoming the first U.S. state to do so.

Contraceptives

Canada to make contraception for women free

By / / Good news links

The government will pay for the most widely used methods to avoid pregnancy, such as IUDs, contraceptive pills, hormonal implants or the day after pill, for the nine million Canadian women of reproductive age, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said at a press conference. “Women should be free to choose the contraceptives they need without cost getting in the way. So, we’re making contraceptives free,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

Nagoya

Aichi becomes Japan’s first prefecture to consider same-sex couples with children as family

By / / Good news links

Aichi – which is home to Japan’s fourth largest city Nagoya – will become the country’s first prefecture to recognize non-heterosexual and common-law couples and their children as families under a “family ship” oath system that will come into effect on April 1. Those who take the oath will have the right to public housing provided by the prefecture and will have the right to give consent when a loved one needs surgery at a hospital managed by the prefecture.

A large french flag fluttering under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris

France becomes world’s first country to enshrine abortion rights in constitution

By / / Good news links

France has become the world’s first country to enshrine abortion rights Lawmakers from both houses of the French Parliament voted 780 to 72 in favor of the measure, easily clearing the three-fifths majority needed to amend the French constitution. The French Senate and National Assembly each overwhelmingly approved the amendment earlier this year. The amendment states that there is a “guaranteed freedom” to abortion in France. Following the vote, the Eiffel Tower was lit up with the words “my body my choice.”