TAOS, New Mexico, Nov 1 (Reuters) - New Mexico became on Saturday the first U.S. state to offer free child care to all residents in a bid to boost its economy and lift education and child welfare levels ranked the worst in the country. It culminates efforts New Mexico has made to expand access to free child care since the governor and state legislature created the Early Childhood Education and Care Department in 2019. Connecticut recently passed a bill making child care free for those families earning under $100,000 per year and no more than 7% of income for those earning more. New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has proposed no-cost universal child care. New Mexico joins countries such as Norway and Belgium that offer free universal child care for children under 3, and Bulgaria, where early childhood education is free for all children until elementary school.

Source: Huffington Post November 01, 2025 13:16 UTC