Free, Universal Childcare Is Becoming a Reality in New Mexico

New Mexico’s Bold Plan for Childcare for All

Families across the country are feeling crushed by the struggle to find affordable, quality childcare. Last week, New Mexico met the moment, announcing that it would be the first state in the nation to offer no-cost universal childcare to all of its residents. Roosevelt’s Lena Bilik spoke to USA Today and wrote for the Roosevelt blog about this historic step.

“In a time of overwhelmingly untenable costs for Americans, childcare is among the most urgent cost-of-living issues,” Bilik writes. In offering childcare to all, New Mexico is treating the basic need as what it is: essential public infrastructure. In July, Roosevelt and our partners at Community Change released a report outlining the foundational principles that should undergird a system of universal public childcare, informed by numerous discussions with childcare providers, parents, and grassroots community organizers.

New Mexico’s plan meets many of the needs expressed by participants in that study. The state intends to address the childcare shortage by making supply-side investments in constructing, expanding, and renovating childcare facilities, as well as by investing in the workforce and offering higher wages. “The reality is, this is not a family-sustaining job right now, to be a childcare provider,” Bilik told USA Today. “And that’s a huge part of why there’s not enough childcare.”

New Mexico is also targeting its initial outreach to infants, toddlers, low-income families, and children with disabilities. But that doesn’t mean the program is limited to any group. “Many of the stakeholders we spoke to referenced the need to combine the principle of true universality with a rollout that would prioritize children and families with the highest needs,” Bilik writes. As one research participant had put it, “Stop figuring out who to deny, and start figuring out ways to get children and families on the program.”

The future of childcare in New Mexico will provide exciting and important lessons to the rest of the country. But Bilik notes that relying only on state-level innovations will leave millions of families behind. “Not every state has this level of funding ability,” she writes. “A patchwork of state policies on childcare is therefore not equitable, let alone sustainable.”

That’s why, ultimately, building a truly universal childcare system is a job for the federal government: because public power, when used right, can mobilize resources across the nation and provide a good life for all people. Bilik concludes: “Federal lawmakers should take a page out of New Mexico’s book and finally deliver national childcare for all.”

Read the blog post: “New Mexico Offers Free Childcare for All. The Federal Government Should Follow Suit.”

What the US Can Learn About Breaking the Nuclear Cost Curse

People need clean, reliable, and affordable energy—all of which renewable sources can deliver. But unlike renewables such as solar and wind, nuclear power faces a unique “cost curse”: The more you build the more expensive it gets, as it has in the US and around the world.

But according to new research, China has bucked that trend—nuclear construction costs there have declined and stabilized over the past few decades, thanks to investments in building a domestic supply chain and skilled workforce. In a new blog post, researcher Shangwei Liu explores how China made this happen and what lessons the US can learn.

Liu draws two conclusions: “First, rebuild the industry and its supply chain at scale. Second, curb cost escalation through stable regulations and standardized designs.” Key to this effort is a capable government ready to shape markets. But without a robust plan, Liu writes, “much of today’s enthusiasm for a US nuclear revival risks remaining little more than hot air.”

The US’s future in renewable energy is uncertain, “but the rest of the world is not standing still,” Roosevelt’s Todd N. Tucker writes in an introduction to the post—the first in a new series exploring different countries’ approaches to decarbonization.

Read the blog post: “Can China Break Nuclear Power’s Cost Curse—and What Can the US Learn?”

What We’re Talking About

What We’re Reading

• On tariffs and the economy: Instead of following through on the promise to revive industries like manufacturing, President Trump has stoked uncertainty with erratic trade policy, leading companies to pause hiring and even lay off workers.
  • Roosevelt’s Michael Madowitz told the Financial Times, “Manufacturing isn’t a labour supply story, it’s slowing demand and being the victim of a rapid policy shift that still hasn’t resolved yet.”
• On the Fed: Trump’s attacks on the Federal Reserve are consolidating power and destabilizing the economy. “I think the Fed needs to be out there [and] seen more visibly listening [to] all parts of the US economy,” Roosevelt Senior Fellow Sameera Fazili told Quartz. “They should be having more visits with farmers, more visible roundtables with consumers, more visible roundtables with workers, so that they can push against the narrative that the Fed is anti-democratic.”
• On democracy: “There’s something important about human life as a matter of principle.” In an interview with New York Magazine, Roosevelt Fellow Osita Nwanevu makes the case for democracy: “[I]t is wrong for us to spend our limited time in the world under the thumb of people who just happen to be more powerful or more wealthy than us,” he says, “We have the right . . . to construct the lives we’d like.”