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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

#181

Post by mguerville »

zamadatix wrote: post #153
mothballed wrote: post #16

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. 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.

I'm not sure there is equal value, in economic terms at least. A stay at home parent caring for 1-2 children comes at the opportunity cost of a full time worker, which would typically be a lot more than 12-24 thousand dollars this is saving them in childcare costs. On the flip side, a childcare worker in NM can care for the children of ~6+ such stay at home parents (depends on randomness of ages and number of childre…

and these $12-24k are net dollars so the parents needs more like $20-40k of gross income to pay for it, but now they can have a small job or small business that nets them even as low as $15k and still come out ahead

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

#182

Post by yardstick »

smeeth wrote: post #171
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.

Hate to break it to you, but many kids actually do better away from their parents than with them. It's extremely sad, but a consistent finding in early childhood education is that the children who thrive most in daycares tend to come from the least advantaged backgrounds. So a policy of paying parents to stay home would mostly benefit kids who are already well off.

Kids are social and like playing and learning from other kids. Daycare lets them do just that. It’s a great thing and every toddler I’ve met who wasn’t in daycare was behind in something. Especially verbal skills.

Plus daycare allows women to continue their career progression. It’s soo important. Not every woman wants to end their career as a mother to a young kid. Daycare enables successful women to thrive and still have families.

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

#183

Post by hedora »

bluGill wrote: post #136
dzink wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depending on how they structure the childcare, women who want to stay with their kids can be childcare providers at one of the centers, so they take care of not just their kids but also others. Similar to the Israeli Kibbutz system.

One of the reasons to care for your own kids is you can give them individual attention. Unless you have so many kids that you are only caring for your own anyway your plan diverts their attention away to other kids (or those other kids get less attention)

One reason to send your kids to daycare is so they can socialize and make friends.

Also, the daycares typically have structured programs that are fun and helpful for toddler development.

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

#184

Post by giantg2 »

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…

I suppose if maximizing GDP is the goal, your comment makes sense. But if feel this is more of a bandaid of deeper underlying labor/pay issues.

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

#186

Post by mythrwy »

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…

New Mexico government does things very very poorly compared to other states I've lived in. Corruption at various levels of government is very common.

I actually really like this idea (even though I'm red leaning) but hope they are able to effectively administrate it. I have my doubts they are.

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

#187

Post by rml »

bombcar wrote: post #35
mothballed wrote: post #16

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. 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.

There are many things that may be better overall, but because they're not financialized, they don't show up on GDP and so are deemed "worthless." Breastfeeding doesn't move money around, but formula does; things like that. Cooking your own meal doesn't raise GDP beyond the cost of supplies, but door-dashing from a restaurant does.

In the book 'Double Entry' the author explains that the guy who created GDP was actually in favor of having family caregiving and household activities accounted for in GDP. If that had happened, different world

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

#188

Post by cushychicken »

This is awesome.

I suspect that for every one job the government would subsidize for a daycare professional, that we’d see three women enter the workforce.

That’s a net of four people employed.

I have no proof of this aside from my own experience watching parents struggle to find care for their kids. Even well off ones where I live. In Massachusetts!

Good for you, New Mexico. I’m rooting for you.

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

#189

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

post_break wrote: post #177
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no big money that wants otherwise. If anything, corporations are all for this.

Paid day cares probably have a big issue with this.

Maybe, but they may also get vouchers (that's what it sounds like).

I wouldn't be surprised if it encourages companies to have on-site daycare.

Probably richer taxpayers are the ones that won't like it.

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

#190

Post by toomuchtodo »

evantbyrne wrote: post #161
toomuchtodo wrote: post #20

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…

As someone who grew up homesteading and seeing the benefits of it, I find it wild that people want to not only send their kids away to school full-time but also institutionalize them afterwards just so they can spend seemingly excessive amounts of time at work. The economic machine demands sacrifices apparently.

Sixty percent of Americans cannot afford a basic quality of life on their income in the US [1] [2]. Half of American renters are cost burdened [3]. I find it wild someone thinks "Why don't you just stay home with your kids?" looking at the macro. Can't all just live on a farm and homestead to raise kids in an unfavorable, punishing macro. Parents work because they have to work. To work, they need childcare and flexible work arrangements.

> "The economic machine demands sacrifices apparently."

Indeed. Is the solution to sacrifice for it? Or tax it to care for the human? [4] We can make better choices, as New Mexico shows. I'm tired of hearing its impossible. It isn't, it's just a lack of will and collective effort in that direction, based on all available evidence.

[1] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cost-of-living-income-quality-o...

[2] https://lisep.org/mql

[3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43119657

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paaen3b44XY

(I am once again asking to think in systems)

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