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NEW MEXICO IS PROVIDING FREE CHILDCARE FOR ALL. IT’S TIME FOR
OTHERS TO DO THE SAME  
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Katrina vanden Heuvel
October 13, 2025
The Guardian
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_ The state is setting a powerful example with its
first-in-the-nation plan. But the policy has support across the US _

‘With all hope, New Mexico won’t long hold the distinction of
being the nation’s only jurisdiction offering early childhood
education for all.’,

 

For four years, New Mexico has been on a distressing losing streak.
The state has consistently ranked last in the nation
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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
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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
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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
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and each year, the price of daycare pushes 134,000 families below the
poverty line
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In New Mexico, childcare can cost over a third of the median single
parent’s income
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resulting financial toll has nationwide consequences: according to one
study, the inadequate childcare system costs the economy $122bn each
year
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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
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threatening their career development and future earnings.

The market alone can do little to lower prices. Providing kids with
well-trained, nurturing caregivers in a safe and engaging environment
is labor-intensive, with teacher-child ratios as low as one-to-three
recommended for the youngest charges. Plus, there’s limited room for
cost-cutting in an industry that is, by strict necessity, highly
regulated. All of this means that care costs more to provide than most
families can afford, making it, in former treasury secretary Janet
Yellen’s words
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example of a broken market.”

Despite this, the US spends a smaller proportion of public dollars
on early childhood education
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almost all other wealthy countries. The Biden administration’s
American Rescue Plan infused the industry with funding that helped
keep centers open, employees in work, and moved kids off of waitlists
and into care. However, this subsidy expired in 2023, and Donald
Trump’s return to office has since imperiled the already meager
federal childcare offerings.

The perennially underfunded Head Start program, which marked its 60th
anniversary last year and provides education and healthcare to
children from very low-income families, appears firmly in the Trump
regime’s crosshairs: the administration closed half of its regional
offices this spring
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These days, Trump no longer denies that Project 2025 is his handbook
for filleting the federal government – and that plan calls
for defunding Head Start entirely
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The White House briefly considered
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out the recommendation in its 2026 budget.

This makes New Mexico’s commitment all the more necessary. Under
Lujan Grisham’s administration, the state has made astonishing
strides in addressing the childcare crisis. Since 2022, it’s offered
free care to families earning up to 400% of the federal poverty level
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and now, by broadening the program to include families of all incomes,
another 12,000 children are expected to gain access. In addition to
supporting kids and parents, New Mexico incentivizes higher wages by
providing more money to daycares offering entry-level salaries of at
least $18 per hour. That’s below a living wage for a childless
adult, but it’s considerably more than the state’s $12-an-hour
minimum. The state legislature must vote next year to sustain the
funding – and, as it’s controlled by Democrats, is expected to do
so.

New Mexico primarily pays for its program through its Early Childhood
Trust Fund, which the state endowed using revenue from oil and gas.
However, it’s entirely possible to support families without relying
on extractive industries. Connecticut is deploying its budget surplus
to create a childcare endowment that’s projected to fund free
daycare
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families earning less than $100,000 a year. And Washington DC raised
taxes on high earners
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increase pay for early childhood educators, making it easier to
recruit staff while expanding the number of available daycare seats.

Even more ambitious models are found abroad. In Denmark, all children
over six months old have a guaranteed right to care
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either in centers that are part of the broader public education system
or with home-based providers. Parents pay no more than a quarter of
the fee. And Canada’s Liberal Party government is implementing a
plan that hopes to lower childcare costs to about $7 USD a day
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Although not all provinces are on track to reach the 2026 target
deadline, prices have declined across the country.

The idea of creating similar resources for working families in the US
isn’t mere fantasy – policies addressing childcare affordability
are broadly popular, particularly among those who have kids.
Fully 92% of American parents
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children under five support universal childcare, as do 79% of
Republicans
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kids under 18.

With all hope, New Mexico won’t long hold the distinction of being
the nation’s only jurisdiction offering early childhood education
for all. In New York City, where a year of infant care costs $26,000,
mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani has made free public daycare a
pillar of his campaign. Enacting such a program in America’s largest
city likely faces a steep uphill battle, despite the fact that it
would allow thousands of mothers to join the workforce and
produce $670m in annual earnings
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But three-quarters of New Yorkers support universal childcare
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which suggests that voters may be ready for the fight.

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_Katrina vanden Heuvel is editor and publisher of the Nation, a member
of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a contributor to
the Washington Post
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Times and the Los Angeles Times_

* free childcare
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* New Mexico
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