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

governor.state.nm.us

111–120 of 695 posts

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

#111
post #42
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

And with this option they can have that choice. Right now, many don’t.

With this option, they are now financially penalized for making that choice in order to subsidize those who don't. I'm not so sure that's a good thing.

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

#112
post #74

[flagged]

This is false the article states it WAS previously at or under 400% poverty levels, it is NOW for every family regardless of income.

"This announcement fulfills the promise made by the governor and the New Mexico Legislature when they created the Early Childhood Education and Care Department in 2019. Since then, 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.

With Monday’s announcement universal child care will be extended to every family in the state, regardless of income. This amounts to an average annual family savings of $12,000 per child."

Quote from article.

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

#113
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.

> Stay at home moms do not provide a less valuable service than childcare providers.

I don't know how can anyone arrive at that conclusion.

> This policy appears to disincentives children staying with their mother even when it is preferred.

This assertion is baffling and far-fetched. There is only one beneficiary of this policy: families who desperately needed access to childcare but could not possibly afford it. With this policy, those who needed childcare but were priced out of the market will be able to access the service they needed. I don't think that extreme poverty and binding a mother to homecare is a valid incentive cor "children staying with their mother".

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

#114
post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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/h…

Portland OR is trying to do something similar ("Preschool for all") and is running into the exact problems OP identified, to the point that the Democratic governor is sending warning messages to the county: https://www.opb.org/article/2025/06/26/kotek-multnomah-count... They aren't just theoretical concerns.

I will find time to build an inventory of every example of where subsidized childcare works and reply with said inventory.

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

#116
post #93
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“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

1. What's the market economy solution for this? 2. What if not everything in life is about the economy?

Not everything is about the economy, but someone's gotta pay for it.

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

#117
post #74

[flagged]

You're wrong.

The literal next sentence after your quote:

"With Monday’s announcement universal child care will be extended to every family in the state, regardless of income. This amounts to an average annual family savings of $12,000 per child." (Emphasis mine.)

I hope the irony of lamenting that others didn't read the article isn't lost on you.

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

#118
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…

I appreciate your optimism but I’m skeptical. I dated someone who worked in child care (with a degree in ECE). She was quite miserable caring for a dozen screaming babies all day. I think the burnout and turnover for such a job (which requires a degree but still paid minimum wage) is likely to be extremely high. The other thing that doesn’t make sense to me is the economics of it. The pay for the staff is very low bu…

Burnout and turnover for teachers are also like that, so it's what you'd expect? maybe they can unionize like teachers though

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

#119
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

I guess Youre not a fan of UBI?

That feels like an entirely separate policy. This one is about making sure small children have care, not whether or not people deserve a minimum guaranteed income

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

#120
post #31
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…

This would solve a lot of Republican’s problems as well. Israel has the kibbutz system and they have the highest birth rate of developed economies. They also have amazing tech and women participation and excellent contributions even in the military. If you raise the country’s children well, you get more GDP and less prisons and less need for policing, and less need for welfare programs. Plus you get quality workers f…

Only about 1-2% of Israelis live on a kibbutz, and unsurprisingly that number has recently fallen. You actually see the elevated birth rates even in Tel Aviv. There’s a broader cultural expectation that would be impossible to recreate elsewhere.
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