Starting Nov. 1, New Mexico will offer free child care to every family in the state. There will be no fees to pay and no income limits to sign up, according to the Early Childhood Education and Care Department.
State leaders and newspapers across the country claim it as the first universal child care paid for by a state.
People who support the program say it will help parents keep their jobs, give child care workers better pay, and make the economy stronger 鈥� adding it will also help the state鈥檚 youngest children who get the care.
鈥淭he well-being of kids is tied to the well-being of the adults in their lives,鈥� said Dr. Philip Fisher, a professor of early childhood at Stanford University鈥檚 Graduate School of Education and director of the Stanford Center on Early Childhood. 鈥淎nd adults鈥� well-being depends on their economic circumstances.鈥�
But there鈥檚 a problem. New Mexico might not have enough child care centers to actually take care of all the children whose families want help. There simply aren鈥檛 enough spots available, especially for babies and families living out in smaller towns.
The state has gradually helped more families with child care assistance since 2019. By 2023, families making 400% of the federal poverty level were able to get help, opening the program to more middle- and higher-income families.
Right now, about 27,000 children across the state get child care, according to the Legislative Finance Committee鈥檚 on Early Childhood. Officials think another 12,000 children will join the program when it becomes universal.
But the committee found, as of this year prior to the new subsidy going into effect, there were only enough openings for about one out of every three babies under age two. The shortage was even worse in rural counties where almost no licensed infant care exists.
The number of child care spots dropped by 3% between 2019 and 2023. That鈥檚 mostly because the number of people providing child care in their homes dropped by half, according to from the Cradle to Career Policy Institute at the University of New Mexico. Most of the drop in unlicensed home-based care 鈥� places that were simply registered as providers.
Not counting those home providers that closed, the numbers would show more licensed child care centers, which have higher quality ratings from the state. But home-based providers are more likely to offer care at night or in a family鈥檚 native language. With so many of them gone, families who work night shifts or want someone who speaks their language may have a harder time finding the right fit, according to the institute. It鈥檚 worth noting that the share of assistance going to families at or below the poverty line fell by nearly 3% between 2019 and 2023.
State officials know there are not enough child care options and have announced a $12.7 million fund that offers low-interest loans to build new centers or fix up old ones. They plan to ask lawmakers for another $20 million. The growth will focus on care for babies and toddlers, low-income families, and children with special needs. The state is also working with businesses and schools to open more locations and is trying to recruit new people to run child care in their homes.
To keep workers, state officials plan to pay child care centers more money so they can cover their real costs. Programs that pay staff at least $18 an hour and stay open 10 hours a day, five days a week will qualify for incentive rates.
The state plans to boost child care in underserved communities by making sure workers get fair pay and by using data to make smart choices, said Elizabeth Groginsky, secretary of the Early Childhood Education and Care Department.
Fair wages can help child care workers think of early education as a real career instead of just a temporary job. That means they can build lasting relationships with the children and families they serve, Groginsky said. 鈥淲e use data to drive our decisions. We just completed a supply-and-demand study with interactive maps showing which parts of the state have the largest gaps. That will guide how we fund applications through the new loan program.鈥�
Even with those plans, questions remain about who will benefit most and how much difference the system will make for children.
While supporters say universal child care is a win for families and the economy, Republican lawmakers that removing income limits means taxpayers will now help pay for child care for wealthy families.
Legislative Finance Committee analysts have also questioned the program鈥檚 impact on learning. Their 2025 report found that while child care meets an essential need for working families, it does not have the same effect on kindergarten readiness as public pre-kindergarten programs.
But Fisher said the benefits go beyond teaching ABCs and 123s.
Stable, predictable, caring relationships are the foundation of healthy learning and development, he said. That matters more than exposing young children to math or reading skills that they will pick up anyway once they start school.
Healthy child development has more to do with relationships than what kind of child care you use, he said.
鈥淭here is not like a prevailing amount of evidence that having a child in a kinder care situation is going to lead the child to be a college graduate [versus] having them cared for by the lady down the street or in your apartment complex is going to lead them to end up, you know, incarcerated,鈥� Fisher said.
Fisher also questioned whether the market alone can give families what they need.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a broken market,鈥� he said. Parents can鈥檛 afford what high-quality care actually costs, employers don鈥檛 usually help cover it, and providers often don鈥檛 make enough to live on.
When adults are stressed about money, he said, it directly affects children.
鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to imagine that if you鈥檙e an adult who鈥檚 taking care of a young child, that if you yourself are worried about not having enough food for you to feed your family, or you鈥檙e skipping meals so you can feed the children, or you鈥檙e worried about eviction, or you can鈥檛 pay for health care, that those things weigh on you and that they take away from your ability to really buffer your child from what鈥檚 going on around them,鈥� he said.
Groginsky said the stakes are high.
鈥淭he first five years is the fastest period of human development, with over a million new brain connections per second in a baby鈥檚 brain,鈥� she said in an interview. 鈥淚t鈥檚 those responsive, nurturing relationships that drive positive outcomes.鈥�