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

governor.state.nm.us

221–230 of 695 posts

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

#221
post #205
post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'm just gonna throw this out here: Well-off kids who barely know their workaholic parents have different but equally bad issues for society, than the poor kids do. Those poor kids have learning deficits. The "well-off" kids often have morality deficits. A mom or dad raising them properly might help them more than being Student #642 in a government childcare facility. This isn't an argument against childcare. My chil…

Like all things: the extremes are never good, and it's all about getting a healthy balance.

- Kids need lots of time with their parents

- Kids need lots of time around other kids

You can do that by sending them to daycare, and ALSO spending lots of time with them when they're home.

You can also do that by taking time off work, and then taking your kid(s) to places with other kids.

Both work; and it depends on your context which works for you.

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

#222
post #205
post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'm just gonna throw this out here: Well-off kids who barely know their workaholic parents have different but equally bad issues for society, than the poor kids do. Those poor kids have learning deficits. The "well-off" kids often have morality deficits. A mom or dad raising them properly might help them more than being Student #642 in a government childcare facility. This isn't an argument against childcare. My chil…

You aren't wrong but calling it being "Student #642 in a government childcare facility" the wrong way of looking at it. Children grow up best when they are allowed to play with other children. Modern society robs kids of that and helicopter parents are bad for society.

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

#223
Despite being 31st in educational funding, New Mexico has ranked 50th in juvenile education for 8 years in a row per the Annie E. Casey foundation:

https://www.aecf.org/interactive/databook?l=35

You can research for yourself and see other evidence that the educational outcomes for children in New Mexico is generally very, very poor.

Expect similar results with New Mexico's "universal" child care.

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

#224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in rural New Mexico and medical services are very bad here. I took my GF to the emergency room once with chest pains (turned out to be a lung infection). After an hours long wait we got to see the "doctor". The doctor came in in street clothes which were wrinkled jeans and a frumpy polo. He was not smart and from appearance, speech and thinking patterns easily could have been the janitorial mid level manager (…

Heh, I had a discussion with a security guard about rattlesnakes once while working in rural NM. "If you get bit by a rattlesnake, man, get on the radio and call me. I'll get you to the hospital. But we're going to Cruces... I'm not taking you to the hospital in T or C... you'll fuckin' die there."

Hahah. Probably should keep going another 45 minutes to El Paso in my opinion.

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

#225
post #194
post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More realistically here, there’s a limit to the funding any individual state can come up with to fund benefits. Tradeoffs have to be considered and increased workforce participation increases the tax receipts that fund these programs. It’s not much more complicated than that.

It's sometimes surprising to read a comment like this, which applies just common sense, basic math, and logic, instead of the typical online comment mixture of hysteria, panic, and portraying one's non-favorite "team" as a bunch of mustachio-twirling cartoon villains.

You read a lot of books about economics, history, and political science and suddenly everything starts to look like it's complicated. The recent trend of commentators shouting "it's actually not complicated" is troubling. I try to present commentary with some nuance and humility. I have a perspective, but I endeavor to leave room for the possibility that I don't have a full understanding or that my model of the world doesn't fit every set of circumstances.

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

#226
post #36

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.

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.

I don't know if that's what they had in mind, but "stay at home mom" is probably not just men/women who solely watch their kid all day long. A full remote worker keeping their kid nearby would probably fit the same criteria, especially if the couple is both remote and they can split dealing with the chores.

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

#227

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…

you could sub in universal k-12 schooling and your concern trolling points would not need to be change. I applaud the versatile argument.

I would've thought we'd eventually move past the point of accusing people of "concern trolling" whenever they have a legitimate counterpoint, but here we are.

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

#228
If AI does actually lead to large economic gains but also high unemployment, then we should be able to invest most in social programs like this and let people make a good living providing them. (as well as all other workers, through wage subsidies)

That said, if you don’t have a job… do you need childcare? But I’m assuming there will still be enough demand from those employed

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

#229
post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it dubious that adding the people who don't find it financially feasible to use childcare to cover working hours will generate tax revenue to cover this due to the low income and low tax nature. Not to mention the addition of the cost from all the current paying families.

> generate tax revenue to cover this due That's not the claim I'm making. Someone entering the workforce has tax implications for a local government far beyond their individual tax receipts and will increase their future earning potential.

You imply an overall net netral to net positive. I find it hard to believe that would total $12k per year. If there are complicated n-order effects, then perhaps you should call them out instead of saying it's not complicated.

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

#230

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…

What’s frustrating about this is that conservatives are always warning about the decreasing child birth rate. But fight against policies that would help support families who have children. Universal healthcare is similar. You want to support small businesses? Lack of affordable healthcare stops a lot of people from leaving corporate America to start their own business.

>What’s frustrating about this is that conservatives are always warning about the decreasing child birth rate. But fight against policies that would help support families who have children.

That's what happens when party doesn't have an actual policy stance and min-maxes their pooling numbers based on target audience instead.

Another more cynical take is "childbirths" is just a code for racism and "pro-life" a code for religious types.

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