New Mexico Is Providing Free Childcare For All. It’s Time For Others To Do The Same

The state is setting a powerful example with its first-in-the-nation plan. But the policy has support across the US

By Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Guardian

For four years, New Mexico has been on a distressing losing streak. The state has consistently ranked last in the nation for child wellbeing, as determined by factors including household income, educational outcomes, and child mortality. And over the past decade, whenever New Mexico hasn’t placed 50th, it’s been 49th.

But in its ongoing efforts to shake off that unenviable distinction, the state is poised to achieve a significant first. In September, governor Michelle Lujan Grisham – who made affordable childcare a centerpiece of her 2018 campaign – announced that New Mexico will offer free universal childcare. No other state in the US currently provides this essential service.

The program is projected to save families an average of $13,000 each year. That’s a windfall almost anywhere, but it’s a particularly life-changing sum in a state that has, by one measure, the highest child poverty rate in the nation. And New Mexico may offer a model for other jurisdictions seeking to strengthen the social safety net, particularly as the Trump administration does its level best to shred it.

Childcare for a single infant is now more expensive than public college tuition in 38 states, and each year, the price of daycare pushes 134,000 families below the poverty line. In New Mexico, childcare can cost over a third of the median single parent’s income. The resulting financial toll has nationwide consequences: according to one study, the inadequate childcare system costs the economy $122bn each year. Meanwhile, the personal toll disproportionately falls on mothers. Amid sky-high daycare prices and return-to-office policies, workforce participation among women with young children is declining, threatening their career development and future earnings.