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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

#11

Post by runako »

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.

> months of delays for everything

Private childcare is also filled with months (often years) of delays. Expanding on this a bit: if you have a sudden need to get childcare, in much of the country you are not likely going to be able to find something that is convenient and of any quality that is also available within a week or two. If you are willing to spend 2x+ the local median childcare expense, you may have better results.

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

#12

Post by dzink »

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 businesses ran by women) and prosper. If you pose your child’s safety vs another dollar, most parents would vote for their children. But if the children are taken care of, parents can give the economy their best and the taxes paid and GDP gained will pay back for the expense manyfold.

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

#13

Post by gchamonlive »

bediger4000 wrote: post #3
thelastgallon wrote: post #2

They'll probably just pass a law that states can't do this? Just like many states passed laws against municipal fiber.

I've been told since at least 1980 that small, local government was best. I was given the impression that state level government was probably the optimum level to decide things, cities and counties could go off the rails in various ways. I haven't see a coherent rationale for reversing course on this doctrine, which was extremely strongly held, and cited a lot.

I also think smaller administration cells are more efficient, but when the president of the federation can just reshuffle the congressional districts and meddle with universities internal politics we gotta rethink how independent these states really are. There is no silver bullet, specially in politics.

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

#14

Post by lp251 »

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

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

#15

Post by Nifty3929 »

It's easy to promise things, but hard to deliver them. How can the state "guarantee no-cost universal child?"

Will the state provide the child care itself? Or will the attempt to provide funding, relying on the private market to provide the service. Are there a bunch of underworked child care providers just waiting around for new customers? Or would they expect the child care industry to go on a hiring spree?

Regardless who provides it, more workers would be required to deliver the service, and new facilities as well. What industries will those workers come from, who will now see reduced services and higher prices as a result? What doesn't get built while the construction workers are building new child care facilities?

Child care tends to be highly regulated. Is the government doing anything (aside from funding) to make it easier to open and run a child-care facility?

It's so easy to spend money. The hard part is the real-world actions and tradeoffs required. Everything comes at the cost of something else we could have had instead.

What you will see is: The funding will go to the people who are already receiving child-care services today, along with big price increases immediately and over time as government money chases supply that is slow to grow.

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

#16

Post by mothballed »

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.

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

#17

Post by stetrain »

bediger4000 wrote: post #3
thelastgallon wrote: post #2

They'll probably just pass a law that states can't do this? Just like many states passed laws against municipal fiber.

I've been told since at least 1980 that small, local government was best. I was given the impression that state level government was probably the optimum level to decide things, cities and counties could go off the rails in various ways. I haven't see a coherent rationale for reversing course on this doctrine, which was extremely strongly held, and cited a lot.

This is generally the position of politicians with power in state governments, yes.

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

#18

Post by mcny »

bediger4000 wrote: post #3
thelastgallon wrote: post #2

They'll probably just pass a law that states can't do this? Just like many states passed laws against municipal fiber.

I've been told since at least 1980 that small, local government was best. I was given the impression that state level government was probably the optimum level to decide things, cities and counties could go off the rails in various ways. I haven't see a coherent rationale for reversing course on this doctrine, which was extremely strongly held, and cited a lot.

> I was given the impression that state level government was probably the optimum level to decide things

I don't think government at any level should get to discriminate based on protected classes and I hope most people alive today will agree

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

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

#20

Post by toomuchtodo »

Nifty3929 wrote: post #15

It's easy to promise things, but hard to deliver them. How can the state "guarantee no-cost universal child?" Will the state provide the child care itself? Or will the attempt to provide funding, relying on the private market to provide the service. Are there a bunch of underworked child care providers just waiting around for new customers? Or would they expect the child care industry to go on a hiring spree? Regardl…

I drive on roads, I use libraries, I have police and fire protection. My children go to school. My city and state provide services to me and fellow citizens. This is no different, and we pay for it with taxes.

I like taxes, with them I buy civilization (which I also am fond of).

(The evidence also shows economic benefits of enabling parents to work when they want to by providing childcare)

https://illumine.app/blog/how-much-childcare-costs-by-state-...

https://childcaredeserts.org/

https://research.upjohn.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1064...

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