Santa Fe, N.M. — Today, the Center for American Progress released a new report detailing the findings of a public opinion survey on the state of child care in New Mexico and voters’ priorities for improving the system. The poll was conducted by GBA Strategies and surveyed 503 registered New Mexico voters. A few key findings include:
- Nearly 7 in 10 New Mexico parents with children under 18 say that lack of access to quality, affordable child care is a serious problem.
- 69 percent of New Mexico parents with children under age 18 say that they or an immediate family member have had their careers or career prospects negatively impacted due to child care considerations.
- 78 percent of New Mexicans support efforts by state lawmakers to increase funding for quality, affordable child care or other early childhood education programs—with 67 percent of voters saying that they would be “more likely” to vote for a candidate who supports these efforts.
- Increasing funding for child care is not a partisan issue for New Mexican voters. Sixty-seven percent of Republicans, 72 percent of independents, and 89 percent of Democrats support additional funding.
- 49 percent of voters in New Mexico believe that the state’s governor and state legislature are best positioned to improve access to quality, affordable child care—outpacing those who believe that this problem will be solved by the private sector, local government, Congress, or nonprofit organizations.
For a complete analysis of the poll results, please click here. The release of the findings comes on the one-year anniversary of the Child Care for Working Families Act, the leading piece of federal legislation to improve child care quality and affordability for working families. A new CAP analysis finds that, under the legislation, 264,000 children in New Mexico would be income-eligible for child care assistance, and the median family’s weekly child care payment in New Mexico would not exceed $24.
For more information on this topic or to connect with an expert, please contact Colin Seeberger at [email protected] or 214.223.2913.