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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

#91

Post by micromacrofoot »

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 very low so typically means testing programs add multipliers that are appropriate for the incomes in their area.

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

#92

Post by Aurornis »

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?

> 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 was led to believe that daycare would be an awful experience and I should feel guilty for sending our kids away. Instead, it turned out to be a very fun thing they looked forward to that was also great for their development. Our kids still hang out with friends they made early in daycare days.

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

#93

Post by oblio »

gbacon wrote: post #79
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.

“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?

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

#95

Post by aisengard »

SignalM wrote: post #74

[flagged]

You literally only had to read one more sentence:

"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."

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

#97

Post by SamuelAdams »

SignalM wrote: post #74

[flagged]

Nonetheless, it looks like this new legislation is expanding the previous 2019 legislation:

> 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.

(emphasis added)

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

#98

Post by mothballed »

gbacon wrote: post #79
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.

“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

The majority of New Mexico is either not employed or only barely employed enough to count towards employment participation. The states employment participation rate is like 58%.

Without making any judgement on whether the economic calculation is "efficient" or not, it's not really something the majority of voters have to worry about as it's essentially entirely OPM to get the votes to get there.

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

#99

Post by keerthiko »

SignalM wrote: post #74

[flagged]

From the article:

> This groundbreaking new initiative will make child care available to all New Mexicans, regardless of income, by removing income eligibility requirements from the state’s child care assistance program

What you are referring to is the progress they made prior to this news.

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

#100

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

pavon wrote: post #87
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I haven't seen anything like that. The biggest factor you can clearly point to is that NM has some of the lowest salaries for doctors combined with some of the highest medical insurance premiums.

If you live there, and don't agree, then I stand corrected. I was told this by someone that lives there, but that's a sample size of 1 (from Albuquerque).
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