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A comment on New Mexico is first state in US to offer universal child care. Parent comment

Re:New Mexico is first state in US to offer universal child ... by palmfacehn on Tuesday September 09, 2025 @11:52AM (#45183754)
Worker productivity has consistently increased, yet workers are struggling to support their families or delaying having a family, because they cannot meet the cost of living. Instead of looking towards the inflation of the monetary base as a driver of price inflation, families are supposed to let the state raise their children. Pricing parents out of the house and into the workforce is instead marketed as "liberation". Liberty implies that a choice is given. Mothers or fathers should have the ability to choose to stay home and benefit from the increases in productivity.

Citing GDP growth is cute, but as nothing has been done to address the underlying drivers of price inflation, we can reasonably expect that socialized child care will become an economic necessity. Any potential benefits of productivity gains will continue to be eaten by those who are first to drink from the monetary spigot. While GDP and hours worked may increase, living standards may not.

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Re:New Mexico is first state in US to offer universal child ... by throwawayqqq11 on Tuesday September 09, 2025 @12:08PM (#45184057)
And what choice do you have regarding rising cost of living?

There are many public services we already rely on and there are many countries that offer free child care already in some form. What you call liberation is just societal specialization and not bad per se.

Focusing on fiscal/wage issues is a big and important topic though. I bet over time, budget hawks will reduce this public service like others and like in many other countries too. We are so many humans on our plentyful earth, we could achieve many things, yet, "we" lack money.

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Re:New Mexico is first state in US to offer universal child ... by janalsncm on Tuesday September 09, 2025 @11:58AM (#45183867)
I’m 100% on board that GDP is increasingly becoming a poor proxy for well-being. That being said I can’t really think of many other things a state can do. The trends you are describing are national if not global.

Also “having the state raise your children” sounds dystopian until you realize the alternative was them not being taken care of in many cases. Handing a kid an iPad is not raising them.

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