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New Mexico is first state in US to offer universal child care

governor.state.nm.us

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Re: New Mexico is first state in US to offer universal child care

#71

Post by micromacrofoot »

WD-42 wrote: post #37
dzink wrote: post #12

This is fantastic! I hope they succeed and there is no abuse or other issues, because it will show how much an economy can grow when women are allowed to work to their full potential. Families who were previously in poverty because the mom would struggle to pay for childcare to work can now have assurance kids are ok while the mom can pursue jobs, start her own small business (huge chunk of businesses are small busin…

You realize a lot of people actually prefer to give their child their best instead of outsourcing it so they can focus on bettering the economy, right?

Yes and we should make that easier as well. Many people don't make enough money to have that choice.

Re: New Mexico is first state in US to offer universal child care

#72

Post by namdnay »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #24

> New Mexico has expanded access to no-cost child care to families with incomes at or below 400% of the federal poverty level, reducing financial strain on tens of thousands of families. This is confusing me, is this the same as "at or below the federal poverty level" or is there something I'm missing with that 400%? Do you have to be 400% below the federal poverty level to qualify?

at or below 400% of the poverty level. so if the povertly level is 1k/month for a family of 4, anyone making 4k or less with the same size of family is included

Re: New Mexico is first state in US to offer universal child care

#73

Post by pbk1 »

lp251 wrote: post #14
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #4

That's wild. New Mexico is fairly notorious for having terrible medical and social safety net stuff. I have a friend that had a daughter that lived there, and had serious mental health issues, and I'd hear nightmare stories about how bad the state was for that. I have family with similar issues, in New York, and they get an amazing amount of state support.

This is paid for by the oil and gas boom in Southern NM. The medical situation is getting worse by the year, though. I don’t think it’s just a matter of shoveling more dollars

I went on a road trip through Southern NM a couple years ago. Highly recommend stopping at Gila National Forest - it's a certified "dark park", remote enough from sources of light to see the Milky Way with the naked eye.

One thing that struck me - towns down there had a template. 90% of towns we drove through were just a blood plasma "donation" center, a dollar store, a gas station, and a cemetery. Very bleak existence out there, oil and gas boom notwithstanding.

Re: New Mexico is first state in US to offer universal child care

#75

Post by micromacrofoot »

dfee wrote: post #26
Groxx wrote: post #5

Childcare is a great way to kick this off - it's politically hard to fight against anything "for the children" and it's not a stretch at all to extend coverage gradually, as people see the benefit and want it elsewhere / just one more year / etc. Just gotta hope it stays funded enough to avoid descending into a bureaucratic death spiral with months of delays for everything.

Kick what off?

Universal access to essential services

Re: New Mexico is first state in US to offer universal child care

#76

Post by Workaccount2 »

mynameisash wrote: post #62
petcat wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not child healthcare. That is already free in every US state. This is free babysitting. The vast majority of the EU does not offer anything close to free universal early childhood care like this. None of Western Europe. I can think of only Latvia and Romania off the top of my head.

> That is already free in every US state. What?

https://www.insurekidsnow.gov/

Re: New Mexico is first state in US to offer universal child care

#78

Post by jvuygbbkuurx »

mothballed wrote: post #16
dzink wrote: post #12

This is fantastic! I hope they succeed and there is no abuse or other issues, because it will show how much an economy can grow when women are allowed to work to their full potential. Families who were previously in poverty because the mom would struggle to pay for childcare to work can now have assurance kids are ok while the mom can pursue jobs, start her own small business (huge chunk of businesses are small busin…

Would make sense IMO to provide an equal value waiver to those who take care of their kid rather than send them to childcare. Stay at home moms do not provide a less valuable service than childcare providers. This policy appears to disincentives children staying with their mother even when it is preferred.

This is how it works in Finland, but with some adjustments based on family income. You are eligible for up to 500€/month if you take care of your child. The other option being childcare costing up to 300€/month.

Re: New Mexico is first state in US to offer universal child care

#79

Post by gbacon »

Groxx wrote: post #5

Childcare is a great way to kick this off - it's politically hard to fight against anything "for the children" and it's not a stretch at all to extend coverage gradually, as people see the benefit and want it elsewhere / just one more year / etc. Just gotta hope it stays funded enough to avoid descending into a bureaucratic death spiral with months of delays for everything.

“This time will be different!” announce the proponents. Watch now, class, as the economic calculation problem works out as predicted in yet another instance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_calculation_problem

Re: New Mexico is first state in US to offer universal child care

#80

Post by Aurornis »

mothballed wrote: post #16
dzink wrote: post #12

This is fantastic! I hope they succeed and there is no abuse or other issues, because it will show how much an economy can grow when women are allowed to work to their full potential. Families who were previously in poverty because the mom would struggle to pay for childcare to work can now have assurance kids are ok while the mom can pursue jobs, start her own small business (huge chunk of businesses are small busin…

Would make sense IMO to provide an equal value waiver to those who take care of their kid rather than send them to childcare. Stay at home moms do not provide a less valuable service than childcare providers. This policy appears to disincentives children staying with their mother even when it is preferred.

> Would make sense IMO to provide an equal value waiver to those who take care of their kid rather than send them to childcare.

This is a great way to kill a policy.

It would technically be most fair if every parent was given the same amount of money per child, period. Then they could do what they needed or wanted with it.

But doing so would not only increase the costs dramatically (by a multiple) it would give money to many parents who didn’t need it for child care.

That’s great in a hypothetical world where budgets are infinite, but in the real world they’re not. The more broadly you spread the money, the less benefit each person receives. If you extended an equal benefit to parents who were already okay with keeping their children home, it’s likely that the real outcome would be reduced benefits for everyone going to daycare. Now you’re giving checks to parents who were already doing okay at home but also diminished the childcare benefit for those who needed it, which was the goal in the beginning.

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