It‘s Scary To See How Very Important European Petitions Get No Visibility Whatsoever. We Had A Basic

the Guardian

New Mexico made childcare free. It lifted 120,000 people above the poverty line

The state, which has long ranked worst in the US for child wellbeing, became the first and only in the country to offer free childcare to a

"The state, which has long ranked worst in the US for child wellbeing, became the first and only in the country to offer free childcare to a majority of families

There was a moment, just before the pandemic, when Lisset Sanchez thought she might have to drop out of college because the cost of keeping her three children in daycare was just too much.

Even with support from the state, she and her husband were paying $800 a month – about half of what Sanchez and her husband paid for their mortgage in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

But during the pandemic, that cost went down to $0. And Sanchez was not only able to finish college, but enroll in nursing school. With a scholarship that covered her tuition and free childcare, Sanchez could afford to commute to school, buy groceries for her growing family – even after she had two more children – and pay down the family’s mortgage and car loan.

“We are a one-income household,” said Sanchez, whose husband works while she is in school. Having free childcare “did help tremendously”.

...Three years ago, New Mexico became the first state in the nation to offer free childcare to a majority of families. The United States has no federal, universal childcare – and ranks 40th on a Unicef ranking of 41 high-income countries’ childcare policies, while maintaining some of the highest childcare costs in the world. Expanding on pandemic-era assistance, New Mexico made childcare free for families earning up to 400% of the federal poverty level, or about $124,000 for a family of four. That meant about half of New Mexican children now qualified.

In one of the poorest states in the nation, where the median household income is half that and childcare costs for two children could take up 80% of a family’s income, the impact was powerful. The state, which had long ranked worst in the nation for child wellbeing, saw its poverty rate begin to fall.

As the state simultaneously raised wages for childcare workers, and became the first to base its subsidy reimbursement rates on the actual cost of providing such care, early childhood educators were also raised out of poverty. In 2020, 27.4% of childcare providers – often women of color – were living in poverty. By 2024, that number had fallen to 16%.

During the state’s recent legislative session, lawmakers approved a “historic” increase in funding for education, including early childhood education, that might improve those numbers even further...

When now-governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced her candidacy in late 2016, she emphasized her desire to address the state’s low child wellbeing rating. And when she took office in January 2018, she described her aim to have a “moonshot for education”: major investments in education across the state, from early childhood through college.

That led to her opening the state’s early childhood education and care department in 2019 – and tapping Groginksy, who had overseen efforts to improve early childhood policies in Washington DC, to run it. Then, in 2020, Lujan Grisham threw her support behind a bill in the state legislature that would establish an Early Childhood Trust Fund: by investing $300m – plus budget surpluses each year, largely from oil and gas revenue – the state hoped to distribute a percentage to fund early childhood education each year.

But then, just weeks after the trust fund was established, the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic.

“Covid created a really enormous moment for childcare,” said Heinz. “We had somewhat of a national reckoning about the fact that we don’t have a workforce if we don’t have childcare.”

As federal funding flooded into New Mexico, the state directed millions of dollars toward childcare, including by boosting pay for entry-level childcare providers to $15 an hour, expanding eligibility for free childcare to families making 400% of the poverty level, and becoming the first state in the nation to set childcare subsidy rates at the true cost of delivering care.

As pandemic-era relief funding dried up in 2022, the governor and Democratic lawmakers proposed another way to generate funds for childcare – directing a portion of the state’s Land Grant Permanent Fund to early childhood education and care. Like the Early Childhood Trust Fund, the permanent fund – which was established when New Mexico became a state – was funded by taxes on fossil fuel revenues. That November, 70% of New Mexican voters approved a constitutional amendment directing 1.25% of the fund to early childhood programs.

By then, the Early Childhood Trust Fund had grown exponentially – due to the boom in oil and gas prices. Beginning with $300m in 2020, the fund had swollen to over $9bn by the end of 2024...

New Mexico has long had one of the highest “official poverty rates” in the nation.

But using a metric that accounts for social safety net programs – like universal childcare – that’s slowly shifting. According to “supplemental poverty” data, 17.1% of New Mexicans fell below the federal “supplemental” poverty line from 2013 to 2015 (a metric that takes into account cost of living and social supports) – making it the fifth poorest state in the nation by that measure. But today, that number has fallen to 10.9%, one of the biggest changes in the country, amounting to 120,000 fewer New Mexicans living in poverty.

New Mexico’s child wellbeing ranking – which is based heavily on “official poverty” rankings – probably won’t budge, says Heinz because “the amount of money coming into households, that they have to run their budget, remains very low.

“However, the thing New Mexico has done that’s fairly tremendous, I think, is around families not having to have as much money going out,” she said.

During the recent legislative session, lawmakers deepened their investments in early childhood education even further, approving a 21.6% increase of $170m for education programs – including early childhood education. However, other legislation that advocates had hoped might pass stalled in the legislature, including a bill to require businesses to offer paid family medical leave...

In her budget recommendations, Lujan Grisham asked the state to up its commitment to early childhood policies, by raising the wage floor for childcare workers to $18 an hour and establishing a career lattice for them. Because of that, Gonzalez has been able to start working on her associate’s in childhood education at Central New Mexico Community College where her tuition is waived. The governor also backed a house bill that will increase the amount of money distributed annually from the Early Childhood Trust Fund – since its dramatic growth due to oil and gas revenues.

Although funding childcare through the Land Grant Permanent Fund is unique to New Mexico – and a handful of other states with permanent funds, like Alaska, Texas and North Dakota – Heinz says the Early Childhood Trust fund “holds interesting lessons for other states” about investing a percentage of revenues into early childhood programs.

In New Mexico, those revenues come largely from oil and gas, but New Mexico Voices for Children has put forth recommendations about how the state can continue funding childcare while transitioning away from fossil fuels, largely by raising taxes on the state’s wealthiest earners. Although other states have not yet followed in New Mexico’s footsteps, a growing number are making strides to offer free pre-K to a majority of their residents.

Heinz cautions that change won’t occur overnight. “What New Mexico is trying to do here is play a very long game. And so I am not without worry that people might give it five years, and it’s been almost five years now, and then say, where are the results? Why is everything not better?” she said. “This is generational change” that New Mexico is only just beginning to witness as the first children who were recipients of universal childcare start school."

-via The Guardian, April 11, 2025

i hate tiktok bc im already seeing people dispute the lgbtq undertones of the upcoming anime. wdym you're going to "ignore the bl undertones" are you just going to ignore yoshiki's entire gay existence?? shut up??? fighting the urge to become my worst sense of self rn

"was going to watch until I saw it was a bl (yuck 🤮)" <- part of the horror aspect is exploring yoshiki's internalised homophobia and self hatred bc of his feelings for hikaru vs "hikaru" like???

god I hate the internet, im not gonna look at anything or i'll just get mad lmao

real reason why the 14th wanted to destroy the earl

24/100

Yesterday I saw a screenshot of a tumble post about the vampire Carmilla who was created before Dracula but never got as much publicity, and it talked a bit about a modern adaption of the story on YouTube, and so of course I binge watched it and just finished the last season and now have to share it with everyone.

Dude this story is so so amazing

The characters, the plot, the emotions, the developments, the acting…I love it so so much and recommend to everyone.

It has vampires and old gods and lgbtq representation (gay vampire! The two main characters have an amazing lesbian relationship and it’s so so amazing, even if it got really sad sometimes. Also a trans non-binary character!). It’s three seasons long, 36 episodes in each season (plus a Christmas special in season 1) and most episodes are around 5 minutes or under ten minutes.

So much happens in this story, and it gets pretty violent at times, but the story is so well written and the worldbuilding is so cool, and seeing how the characters have grown and how everything effects them, it’s so cool to watch.

I don’t want to spoil anything so I should stop talking, but it’s so amazing, go watch it!

YouTube

Carmilla | Season 1

Carmilla | Season 1

Can someone pls point out very clear and explicit examples of Isagi being an asshole? I’m so confused

I think when half the characters on the page are talking about how they were inspired by Isagi and how he makes soccer fun for them you probably shouldn’t come away with the take of “Wow Isagi is such a POS look at him” LOOK AT HIM DOING WHAT

WHAT IS HE DOING

The only characters who fucking hate his guts are Rin and Kaiser, and with those two especially it’s because of absolutely nothing to do with Isagi

He has done nothing to them, their hatred is clearly irrational and, in Rin’s case, fucking insane

It’s debatable if they even actually hate him or just hate the effect he has on them

If he was being an asshole then you’d see the effects of that in the surrounding cast 😭 Kunigami and Kaiser are clear examples of a character whose assholery is clear and undeniable bc everyone around them makes a point to mention that they’re assholes

Claiming unreliable narration doesn’t work when the narration is coming from everyone outside of the main character

And stop bringing Bachira into your tomfoolery, why would they break up. Lol.

Also everyone who wanted PXG to win…I don’t understand that why would you want Rin’s behavior to lead him to a win WHY

happy valentine's day 💖 Support me on PATREON 🐤

I thought that Jeremy couldn't be an addict because that would make him "too much of a fox" and the trojans didn't have criminal or public, stigmatised problems but in actuality I think it's a great way to explore how wealth defines these labels. The foxes are constantly maligned for being problem cases but Jeremy is the captain of the trojans because of blatant bribery and abuse of power. Jeremy suffers horrific consequences for his actions, in the form of homophobia, shame, guilt, emotional and fincancial abuse and control. But he is able to avoid the worst practical consequences (serious jail time, let alone suspension from school, loss of his Exy career) because of his parents influence and wealth. He is able to get clean because of their wealth. Whereas the foxes are 'junkies and criminals' for their entire career and are only allowed a shot at a better life if they're lucky because Wymack puts his neck out for them. I think it's genius to have us guess and wait for book two because it emphasises this disparity.

I made it inspired by my drawing. Lavi will follow him like a ghost, thinking that everything about Allen, what he experienced in this holy war, will be shown as a painting and that Allen will not lose his effect on Lavi even after the holy war. Not a real ghost. The remains of the eternal friend who did not leave Lavi and the neutral pages.

🤡

Damn it i really it . You should see the other things I've done too

It's with a heavy but hopeful heart that I watch Palestinian families fundraiser on here, slowly accumulating the precious little money to go around that they need to survive. However, not everyone is so lucky. A lot of Palestinians that have not had that kind of luck, that did not get early verification, that did not get massive platforms behind them from large bloggers, have approached me in my inbox, asking me kindly to do what I can for them. It kills me that I have so little to give myself, but I've seen this platform collectively raise enough to change someone's life. I've made a list of Palestinian fundraisers that are extremely low on funds, in the hope that drawing attention to people who have not been lucky at all can help turn that luck around. I know most of us can't possibly give enough to get all of these families safe in one go. But please, reblog this list. Pick one or two fundraisers, give what you can, and then keep track of it. Slowly, collectively, we can make a difference in these people's lives. Share and donate as much as you can. https://docs.google.com/document/d/178EGDFKkHlh3y4TMVX82kqgITHsqtoMdNccI2f_94Os/edit?usp=sharing