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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

#141

Post by hedora »

nemomarx wrote: post #118
chongli wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

It sounds like she was a poor fit, or the child care center sucked.

Try to find one that has long average tenure (10+ years, if possible).

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

#142

Post by hnlmorg »

Aurornis wrote: post #92
WD-42 wrote: 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?

> You realize a lot of people actually prefer to give their child their best instead of outsourcing it My wife and I staggered our work schedules to minimize the time spent at daycare. The one thing we didn’t expect: The kids absolutely loved daycare. It was a great place with excellent caretakers. Most of all, it was socialization with their friends. From reading sneering interment comments (like the one above) I wa…

Exactly this.

There are so many benefits to day care for the children. It’s hardly the prison camp people make it out to be.

I don’t know if these negative comments are because HN in general dislikes the wider educational system, or if it’s because they dislike governments handing out “charity” to help less affluent families. Maybe a touch of both? But daycare can actually be a really rewarding experience for children.

So much so, that I have parent friends who one of them is a stay-at-home parent and they still send their child to day care at least one day a week to help the child’s independence, social skills and comfort when away from home. And they’ve found their child has been better for the experience

Edit: and the fact that I’ve been downvoted within seconds of posting this shows how ridiculous people are on here when it comes this topic.

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

#143

Post by zackmorris »

I just want to +1 this post before it gets flagged for being "political" or whatever.

I grew up in the 1980s and have watched America slide from being a civilization that was the envy of the world into something resembling empire or feudalism or I-don't-know-what. The US literally declared its independence from England to shrug off authoritarianism/aristocracy. Yet we've reproduced that wealth inequality here.

We're going to have to draw a line in the sand that says that we believe that we can build a dignified society together. That means that we've got to stop worshipping rugged individualism when our billionaires got rich on government contracts and let children starve in poverty. The hypocrisy has reached self-destructive proportions.

If free childcare is gonna sink the country, then we're already sunk. Same with free healthcare and free education. You want to know what sinks a country? When grocery prices triple and (waves hand at everything).

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

#144

Post by pavon »

dpflan wrote: post #19

Where is the money coming from to keep these services afloat? The federal funding environment seems less magnanimous these days, plus as other have pointed out, New Mexico is not an economic powerhouse.

The NM state government has had surplus revenue for a few decades due to taxes on natural gas and oil, first in the northwest, which has since dried up, and now in the southeast. Previous state governments had the foresight to structure things such that this money goes into a trust fund from which the state draws interest. Of course all that money is a very tempting source to fund programs, and every session there are debates about increasing the amount drawn from the fund, for something or another.

I have to admit that with everything else that has been going on politically, I haven't followed this latest push for universal child care, and don't know if the way they are funding it is sustainable. But previous pushes for preschool funding, etc weren't IMO; they were based on pretty optimistic estimates of both fund performance and economic returns from the preschool programs.

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

#145

Post by jonathanlb »

throwmeaway222 wrote: post #106

what happened with socialization, friends and parents

> socialization, friends

This still happen at daycare. If you have sent your kid to daycare/preschool, you'll know that kids become friends wit nother kids there, and parents can become friends withnother parents. A community forms because playdates are necessary when daycare/preschool is out.

> parents

Sometimes economic realities are such that both parents have to work to make ends meet. There are single-family households that also exist. Childcare is a necessity in these and other situations.

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

#146

Post by mcbobgorge »

Ajedi32 wrote: post #111
dzink wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

My wife and I have no interest in ever having children, yet we are happy to pay property taxes that go to local public schools. Why? Because an educated society is better able to make educated decisions. We are being "penalized" for making the choice to not have kids in order to "subsidize" those who don't.

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

#147

Post by Avshalom »

declan_roberts wrote: post #122

I'm going to take the reverse position. I don't like this policy. I think it would be much better to provide a one year paid stipend so that a parent can be home with the children during their tender years. This entire structure is set up to keep the boss happy while a stranger raises your child during their most formative and vulnerable years.

This isn't just for babies. My coworker's 12yo is covered by this because he's got cancer and is too immunocompromised to go to school.

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

#148

Post by mythrwy »

New Mexico has some serious generational social issues. Extreme poverty, lack of education, lack of work (or most anything else) ethic are very common. Drugs and alcoholism are endemic.

I wonder if some of the intent behind this is to reduce some of the generational effects by exposing children early to at least some semblance of order and sobriety? Then when they enter school they have more of a chance.

I'm not by any means "socialist inclined" but I can't say I'm against this program because the situation is dire enough something must be done.

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

#149

Post by marknutter »

Aurornis wrote: post #92
WD-42 wrote: 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?

> You realize a lot of people actually prefer to give their child their best instead of outsourcing it My wife and I staggered our work schedules to minimize the time spent at daycare. The one thing we didn’t expect: The kids absolutely loved daycare. It was a great place with excellent caretakers. Most of all, it was socialization with their friends. From reading sneering interment comments (like the one above) I wa…

There is something sad about not spending as much time as you possibly can with your children in their younger years, though.

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

#150

Post by Loudergood »

colechristensen wrote: post #123
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…

The problem with more people entering the workforce is that the people never end up better off. Prices just go up and people end up working more for the same result. Changing the definition of full-time hours to 30/week would do far more for families and children than giving free childcare so mothers can work more. Making mortgages with a > 20 year term illegal, putting limits on the total principal allowed to loan a…

That last part is just going to make more housing cheaper for landlords and force more people into renting.
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