New York City’s next mayor, Zohran Mamdani, promised free childcare to New Yorkers. New Mexico might be writing the blueprint.
New Mexico’s new policy, which took effect on November 1, made childcare access universal to parents across the state by eliminating income limits and copays for childcare. Childcare workers are also slated to get a raise.
It could be a model for New York City. Mamdani proposed expanding childcare in the city, starting with creating more slots for kids from six weeks to 5 years old. Some of the city’s business executives agreed with his proposal for universal childcare, even if they opposed many of his plans aimed at boosting affordability.
Childcare has increasingly outpaced inflation and forced families to find other cost-effective solutions to day care deserts. Previously, New Mexican parents ineligible for full subsidies were paying an average of $12,00 a year per child. The state’s government aims to boost its economy by putting money back into the pockets of parents.
“That’s huge to a family’s budget,” said Julie Kashen, senior fellow and director for women’s economic justice at The Century Foundation, a progressive, nonpartisan think tank. “That makes a really big difference in what else they can afford, what they can save for the future, how they can get out of debt.”
It also allows parents to go to work with peace of mind, Kashen added. Without reliable childcare, parents call out of work when their kids are sick or have a day off school. For working parents, “childcare is the backbone of our economy,” she said.
How New Mexico affords a universal policy
One of Mamdani’s first challenges — and a challenge to any state or city aiming to expand childcare — is finding funding. His plan is to raise taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers and on corporations.
Natural resources set New Mexico’s funding apart from other cities and states, giving it an advantage in paying for its universal childcare program. As the second-biggest crude oil producer in the country, tax revenue from fracking totaled over $11 billion last year. Oil and natural gas revenue allow the state to invest in its over $30 billion permanent fund for childcare.
The fund is valued at about $10 billion this year and is expected to grow year-over-year to $12.6 billion.
For a similar program in New York City, the Mamdani campaign estimated the cost would be around $6 billion. This would expand the city’s free preschool program for 4-year-olds and 3-year-olds.
Giving childcare workers a pay raise
To bolster employment in the childcare industry, New Mexico also bumped up the minimum wage to $18 per hour for childcare workers, $6 above the state minimum wage. The pay can be enticing for prospective workers, as median wages for childcare workers are lower than 97% of all other jobs.
“They get paid less than dishwashers and dog walkers,” said Hailey Gibbs, the associate director for early childhood policy at the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan progressive policy institute.
Gibbs explained that direct compensation, healthcare, and retirement benefits will attract more workers to the industry. Current childcare workers are already dedicated to the industry, and strengthening their economic outlook may keep them from looking for jobs elsewhere, she said.
“They don’t do it for the money because there isn’t money,” Gibbs said. “They do it because they’re passionate about it, because they care deeply about their communities and the families that they work with.”
In the New York City metropolitan area, median wages for day care workers sit at $18.09 per hour, well below the $28.55 median wage for the metro area. These same workers have the lowest personal income of all other care workers in the city, according to a report from Brad Lander, the city’s comptroller. Mamdani has also proposed matching pay with NYC Schools teachers’ salaries, around $70,000 for new employees.
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