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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

#41

Post by sbrother »

monknomo wrote: post #21
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…

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

+1. That being said, universal k-12 schooling works because it is publicly run. A subsidized private sector model has a lot of bad incentives and issues to work out. As an example, I've sent my kids to a private school for the past five years, and last year our state introduced a voucher program to help subsidize private education. The school responded by raising the prices by almost the amount of the voucher, just for the age groups that it covered.

See also: US healthcare.

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

#42

Post by dzink »

WD-42 wrote: post #37
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…

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.

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

#43

Post by bombcar »

runako wrote: post #11
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…

If you want a quick response, you need either dedicated quick-responders (how are they paid when not responding) or you need a lot of slack in the system (caregivers are allowed 4 kids, say, but most have two or three).

And that also needs to be paid for.

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

#44

Post by [deleted] »

dfee wrote: post #26
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.

Kick what off?

[deleted]

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

#45

Post by lucozade »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #24

> 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. This is confusing me, is this the same as "at or below the federal poverty level" or is there something I'm missing with that 400%? Do you have to be 400% below the federal poverty level to qualify?

It means that the current system provides free child care if your household income is less that 4x the federal poverty level. The new scheme doesn't restrict by income.

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

#46

Post by rafram »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #24

> 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. This is confusing me, is this the same as "at or below the federal poverty level" or is there something I'm missing with that 400%? Do you have to be 400% below the federal poverty level to qualify?

The federal poverty level is unrealistically low ($20k for two people, which would be difficult to make rent and eat three meals on even in LCOL areas), so they set their own “poverty line” to 4x the federal one.

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

#47

Post by alt227 »

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…

> it will show how much an economy can grow when women are allowed to work to their full potential

Why bring gender into it? There are plenty of families who choose to have stay at home Dads while the mother goes back to work full time. We are not in the 1950s any more.

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

#48

Post by Isamu »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #20
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/h…

I’m also fond of civilization. I like your point that enabling parents to work helps drive the economy to everyone’s benefit.

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

#50

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

lp251 wrote: post #14
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

What I was told, was it was anti-undocumented stuff.

People don’t want immigrants getting help that residents pay for, so they turn the spigots off for everyone.

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