One year into free child care in New Mexico, too many kids and not enough slots

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One year into free child care in New Mexico, too many kids and not enough slots



In a first-in-the-nation experiment with universal child care, demand is outpacing availability and costs are soaring.


SANTA FE — A year after New Mexico launched free child care for all families, Dakota Rivera still can’t find a place to send her kids.

The mom of two was ecstatic when the state’s Democratic governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, announced last September that New Mexico would expand its day care assistance program to any family who wanted it.

But Rivera lives in a city with an acute shortage of child care centers. She still spends her days piecing together care with help from family members, canvassing social media and searching for babysitters.

She’s on 10 different waiting lists.

“I think the systems that they put in are great, sure, but it’s just not there yet,” Rivera said, as she tried to answer work emails while holding her 8-month-old daughter, who was cooing and waving a plastic giraffe. “In five years, maybe. For parents trying to do it now, it’s impossible.”

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