New Mexico made childcare free. It lifted 120k people out of poverty

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/11/childcare-new-mexico-poverty

by hanson108 • 1 year ago

47 15 1 year ago

hanson108• 1 year ago

New Mexico — long ranked worst in the U.S. for child wellbeing — became the first state to make childcare free for most families. The result? 120,000 people rose above the poverty line.

This wasn’t a moonshot. It was a single policy shift that removed a massive, structural bottleneck — one that millions of us face every day.

If you’ve ever tried building, working, or even thinking clearly while managing childcare, you know how hard it gets. For many, the constraint isn’t talent or effort — it’s whether they can safely hand off their kid long enough to get anything done.

pestatije• 1 year ago

and still birth rates are reasonably high...why would a state pay for childcare if it wasnt to rise birth rates?

toomuchtodo• 1 year ago

To bolster its workforce. Parents with childcare can work. Regardless why (fertility rate, labor force participation improvement), it is the right thing to do imho.

defrost• 1 year ago

Done properly such policies promote a better more uniform and reliable childcare industry, moves more parents from home into the workplace, raises more in taxes from working hours, increases early socialisation for young children, etc.

anigbrowl• 1 year ago

To reduce crime, have increased economic growth.

dweinus• 1 year ago

To improve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for its citizens.

xyzelement• 1 year ago

Birthrate in the US is extremely and unsustainably low.

1.62 births per woman in 2023.

Replacement rate is 2.1 or 2.2 depends on the source.

CincinnatiMan• 1 year ago

I’m not sure how I feel about a government incentivizing daycare. I’d rather all parents receive financial support, regardless of their childcare decisions.

New Mexico made childcare free. It lifted 120k people out of poverty

Related Stories