New Mexico's near-universal child care a 'life-saver' for many families
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Predominantly free statewide child care is helping lift many New Mexico families out of poverty.
Three years ago, the state became the first in the nation to offer the program to a majority of families. Expanding on pandemic-era assistance, child care is now free for those earning up to 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, or about $124,000 a year for a family of four.
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Hailey Heinz, research scientist and deputy director of the Cradle to Career Policy Institute at the University of New Mexico, said without child care costs, many families are thriving instead of just surviving.
"Because child care is just so expensive that, if you do not have to pay that bill anymore, for many families this is more than $1,000 a month," Heinz pointed out. "It's helping in, families even use the phrase, 'life-changing' ways."
The Trump administration has encouraged Americans to have more children. But the U.S. has no federal, universal child care and according to UNICEF, its child care policies rank 40th among 41 high-income countries, even while costs are some of the highest in the world.
The 2022 vote amended the New Mexico Constitution, guaranteeing a right to early childhood education. Revenues to fund the program, largely from oil and gas, are distributed through the state's Land Grant Permanent Fund. Heinz noted only Vermont, which does not grapple with extreme poverty like New Mexico, has a similar program.
"We have people talking about being able to afford a reliable car," Heinz reported. "People really talking about just having a little bit of decreased stress and sort-of improved economic breathing room, just from not worrying so much about money all the time."
Geographically, New Mexico is the fifth-largest state, much of it rural and devoted to ranching with only a handful of sizable metropolitan areas. Heinz added child care affordability is better but in the long term, families said they need more caregivers to choose from.
"They see good things happening for their children's development because they're in higher-quality care, or they're able to be in care," Heinz stressed.
