New Mexico is first state to offer free universal child care. Will others follow suit?
New Mexico is the first state in America to guarantee free child care to every parent, starting Nov. 1.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham made the announcement on Sept. 8. The state already had free child care available to families with incomes at or below 400% of the federal poverty level. But starting in November, the program will be available to all parents, regardless of income.
“By investing in universal child care, we are giving families financial relief, supporting our economy, and ensuring that every child has the opportunity to grow and thrive,” Lujan Grisham said in a news release.
Here’s what to know about the program, and if other states will follow suit.
How does statewide free child care work?
Child care assistance program funds go directly to child care providers, not parents, said New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky.
Most child care providers in New Mexico − 85% − are part of the program. A parent applies for assistance through the state, with a specific care facility in mind. The state sets rates based on the age of the child, the care facility and the quality of care.
Centers that aren’t in the program have opted out, and are likely to have higher tuition rates, Groginsky said.
How much will families save with universal free child care?
New Mexican families will save an average of $12,000 annually through the program, according to the news release.
Child care costs can be much more than that for some families. Single parents in New Mexico can spend more than a third of their income on child care, according to a WalletHub analysis. Married couples in New Mexico often spend more than 11% of their income on child care.
Infant care costs are highest, and child care costs typically decrease as children grow. The average cost of center-based infant care in the U.S. is $1,230 per month, or $14,760 per year, according to World Population Review, and the cost of infant or toddler child care does not meet the federal definition of affordable (7% or less of the annual household income) in any state. In New Mexico, the average annual cost of infant care is $14,244, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Child care for a 4-year-old costs $9,993 annually.
“Child care is a cost of living issue,” said Lena Bilik, program manager at the Roosevelt Institute.
Does the state have enough child care providers to support all New Mexican families?
New Mexico needs 5,000 more early childhood professionals to make the universal child care system work, the state estimates.
The state won’t have those additional professionals by November, Groginsky said. She does not anticipate supply to outweigh demand starting this year, as many families are currently sending their kids to child care facilities by paying out of pocket. But the state is working ahead to recruit more teachers as more families enroll in the program.
“We have a declining birth rate in New Mexico, so we’re hopeful that this universal child care will entice more people to grow their families, and also for people to move here and also support our workforce,” Groginsky said.
The state is partnering with employers and school districts and recruiting more licensed and registered home providers with higher reimbursement rates “to reflect the true cost of care,” according to the news release. Programs that commit to paying entry-level staff a minimum of $18 per hour and offer 10 hours of care per day, five days a week, will receive an incentive rate. The minimum wage in New Mexico is $12 per hour.
“The reality is, this is not a family-sustaining job right now, to be a child care provider. And that’s a huge part of why there’s not enough child care,” Bilik said. New Mexico is certainly moving in the right direction, she said, and other states and municipalities have made strides to adjust child care wages, too. In 2022, the District of Columbia established the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund, providing early childhood educators up to $14,000 in yearly supplemental payments.
The state is establishing a $12.7 million low-interest loan fund to construct, expand and renovate child care facilities. An additional $20 million will be requested in the state’s 2027 budget.
Who’s paying for New Mexico’s universal no-cost child care?
New Mexico started planning for universal no-cost child care in 2019, when the state founded the Early Childhood Education and Care Department. In 2020, Lujan Grisham created the Early Childhood Education and Care Fund with $320 million from surplus oil and gas revenues and federal mineral leasing. The hope was for that fund to grow to $1 billion in 10 years, Groginsky said. The fund already has almost $10 billion.
The department gets yearly interest payments from that fund ($500 million or 5% of the fund’s three-year average balance, whichever is greater), and in 2022, New Mexicans voted to use a portion of the state’s Land Grant Permanent Fund to fund early childhood education, providing the department an additional $178.7 million in fiscal year 2026. Next fiscal year, the department will receive $197.6 million.
Are other states considering universal child care?
There is a growing demand for free child care across the country, said Julie Kashen, a senior fellow and director for women’s economic justice at The Century Foundation. Parents and employers alike have been sounding the alarm on the child care crisis for years.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government’s American Rescue Plan invested more in child care than any other time in American history. States got a taste of what supported child care infrastructure looked like during that time, Kashen said, and now several states are working to build out that infrastructure.
In June, Connecticut established an Early Childhood Education Endowment to create universal preschool by 2032. A 2023 law in Vermont expanded child care access by providing financial assistance for families and minimum pay standards for child care workers.
In Multnomah County, Oregon, 3,800 families will have access to the county’s marginal income tax-funded universal preschool program this school year. Combined with other government programs, that means 40% of preschool seats in the county are now publicly funded, said Ryan Yambra, county communications coordinator. The county is scaling up the program each year, Yambra said, and is on track to have universal preschool for all county residents (11,000 seats) by 2030.
Other jurisdictions are floating child care access programs, too, and child care is top of mind for many voters. Most notably, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is running on a platform that includes free child care.
Could universal child care become a national program?
White House officials did not respond to a question from USA TODAY asking if the administration has made any plans to look into a national universal free child care program.
More recent national child care efforts have focused on tax cuts for employers “instead of investments in American families,” Kashen said. She thinks universal free child care “absolutely needs to be a national solution” instead of spreading state by state.
“We can do big, hard things when we want to, and we have,” she said, noting the federal government’s child care program that benefitted thousands of families during World War II. “When we have the will, we find a way. And I think we can do it again.”
Madeline Mitchell’s role covering women and the caregiving economy at USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with Pivotal and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
Reach Madeline at memitchell@usatoday.com and @maddiemitch_ on X.
Contributing: Natassia Paloma, El Paso Times
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New Mexico is first state to offer free universal child care. Will others follow suit?
Reporting by Madeline Mitchell, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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