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Last November, New Mexico made history by becoming the first state in the country to enact a universal childcare program. The landmark policy has offered academics something rare: the chance to study the impact of universal childcare in the United States. And it鈥檚 already produced striking results. Since it went into effect, it鈥檚 significantly changed how much mothers work, according to by Chris Herbst, a professor at Arizona State University who studies childcare policy. 

Using data collected monthly by the U.S. Census Bureau between May 2019 and August 2026, Herbst compared labor supply for mothers in New Mexico, before and after the policy took effect, and also compared that data to mothers outside the state. His research found an 鈥渋mmediate and substantial increase鈥� in some mothers鈥� work.

But the results differ substantially by income. 鈥淭his is really a tale of two kinds of results,鈥� Herbst said in an interview. 

Herbst’s study examined outcomes for low-skill and high-skilled mothers 鈥� terms he uses to refer to lower- and higher-income moms. Low-income mothers in New Mexico have seen significant gains in employment since universal childcare was enacted. After the policy, their participation in the labor force and their employment both rose by 18%, according to Herbst鈥檚 study. Full-time employment grew by 23%, and the number of hours mothers worked each week increased by 15%. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 really, really big,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he introduction of universal childcare has just had a pretty profound impact on disadvantaged mothers鈥� employment.鈥�

In fact, the magnitude that Herbst found was much larger than what was produced when Quebec instituted universal, highly subsidized childcare in the late 1990s: Research on that policy found that mothers鈥� labor force participation relative to its pre-policy level. That鈥檚 notable because other that, after Quebec鈥檚 program prompted more mothers to work and they paid more in taxes, the program more than paid for itself. While Herbst cautioned that it鈥檚 too early to tell if that will be the case for New Mexico鈥檚 policy, 鈥淚t鈥檚 looking promising,鈥� he said. 

What his data make clear is that, before universal childcare, the cost of care was a huge financial barrier standing in the way of low-income mothers getting paid jobs; Herbst said that it proves that many couldn鈥檛 find care they could afford on the pay they could get from the available jobs. After they were able to partake in universal, free care, however, 鈥淒isadvantaged families can now afford to work,鈥� Herbst said.

What he found for higher-income mothers was slightly different. He found that these mothers actually reduced their labor force participation by 8%, their full-time work by 17% and the number of hours they worked each week by 10%. Herbst suggested two possible explanations: either they cut back on full-time work to spend more time at home with their children, or they reduced work so they could go back to school. While the state鈥檚 universal childcare program requires all parents in a household to work or engage in other activities like going to school to qualify, it doesn鈥檛 impose a minimum number of hours on those activities, so they can do them part time. For these parents, 鈥淚t increased their options in terms of how they want to spend their time,鈥� Herbst said. Some may now be able to pursue an educational opportunity that could allow them to switch career paths, or to progress faster in the path they鈥檙e already on.

Either way, Herbst doesn鈥檛 see the reduction in workforce participation among these mothers as a policy failure. Whether it鈥檚 enrolling in school or spending more time at home, 鈥渢hese are obviously choices that these families have wanted to make, and now policy has made these choices possible,鈥� he said. That鈥檚 actually a common thread for both groups of mothers: 鈥淭his is a policy that has given these families more choices,鈥� he said. 

As the first state in the country to enact a sweeping, free childcare program, it offers rich ground for research. 鈥淚 have been waiting 20 years for New Mexico,鈥� Herbst said with a laugh. 鈥淭his is the policy we鈥檝e needed to evaluate to try to understand universal childcare in the U.S. context.鈥� Up until now, studies of universal childcare have looked at international models, such as Quebec鈥檚 program or Norway鈥檚 efforts to affordable, universal childcare into law. 

Herbst has also studied the one other time the United States experienced universal childcare: the Lanham Act, a bill passed by Congress in 1940 that was used to create a network of subsidized centers across the country to allow women to work during World War II. Herbst that for each dollar increase in spending on these centers, women鈥檚 employment rose 0.1 percentage point, while the hours they spent at work rose by 0.04 hours. Ironically, New Mexico was the one state that didn鈥檛 participate in the Lanham Act, Herbst said. 

Children also benefitted from Lanham Act centers: they were more likely to graduate college, work and earn more later in life, and they were less likely to drop out of high school. There may very well also be benefits to New Mexico鈥檚 universal childcare program for children鈥檚 development and long-term outcomes. When low-income mothers work more and earn more, that鈥檚 more they can invest in their families; when higher-income mothers can spend more time raising their children, that is also likely to benefit them. Eventually, children may show signs of higher educational outcomes. But those will be harder to study, and they will also take longer to come to fruition, Herbst noted.

One thing is clear: There is huge demand from New Mexico鈥檚 parents for universal childcare. By April, enrollment among children in the state had risen by . More than 30,000 families were participating as of April.

If nothing else, Herbst believes the results he found for mothers鈥� work should assuage the fears of anyone who wonders whether New Mexico is getting value for the it鈥檚 spending on the program. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e increasing mothers鈥� full-time employment by 23%, you are getting something for your money,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his paper shows that the state is getting a lot in return.鈥�

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