New Mexico is a national leader in providing access to high quality early childhood care, becoming the first state in the nation to set a goal of universal access through legislation. This year’s survey includes an oversample (n=250) of parents and primary caregivers in the state of New Mexico which allows for several insights the state will need to consider as they implement this legislation. The survey provides a baseline of current enrollment of Hispanic families of New Mexico, with 44% of New Mexican parents/primary caregivers reporting their youngest child has accessed childcare since their birth which is nearly identical to the national average.

When asked what the two most important issues President Trump and the new Congress should address to improve the wellbeing of children, New Mexican families prioritize access to affordable childcare and learning (42%) as their top priority. Furthermore, a robust 78% of New Mexico’s families think that it is very important to expand access to quality affordable childcare and early learning programs – 9% higher than the national average in this year’s survey.

This suggests that there is demand for the roll out of expanded access to childcare from the state. However, our collective body of work over the years has consistently shown that strong numbers of Latino families in New Mexico (and nationally), prefer family care in the earliest years of their children’s development. This year’s survey reinforces this trend in our data, as 27% of families who reported that their youngest child is not accessing childcare told us that their preference is for a family member to help care for their young child as the reason for their lack of enrollment. The survey also identifies that New Mexican families are more likely to rely on grandparents for childcare (39% compared to 32%) than Latino families nationally.

Enrollment in early childcare requires a lot of trust in the state-run systems to help overcome this natural preference for having family care for their young children. The survey finds that the state has work to do to build trust with Latino families, as 22% of non-enrolled families reported that they do not trust others to care for their child as one of the top reasons for not accessing childcare. This is a particular barrier for families making less than $60,000 annually in income, mothers, and Latino families who speak predominantly English in their homes. Furthermore, New Mexicans are slightly (-5%) less likely to report trust of state departments and agencies than Latino families overall, with only 10% of families reporting that they have “a lot of trust” in state departments/agencies.

It’s important that as we build early learning systems we have strong family-centered approaches integrated- not just center-based systems. This is an area of potential growth in New Mexico, as New Mexican families are less likely to have their children attend home-based childcare relative to Latino families nationally (13% in NM compared to 22% overall).

New Mexican Families Continue to Face Economic Challenges

Economic concerns and challenges remain significant in New Mexico. When asked about which issues are most important for Congress and the President to address, New Mexican parents cited “jobs and the economy” (42%), “immigration reform” (37%), and “cost of living/inflation” (35%) as top concerns. 

On a personal level, only less than one-fifth of Latino parents (17%) report that they live comfortably. Only 17% report living comfortably, while 35% say they just meet expenses and 10% report having trouble meeting them altogether. Due to this struggle to stay afloat amongst many Latino parents in the state, over the past year, many have taken significant steps. More than one-third (37%) have had to borrow money from friends or family, while 22% used up all or most of their savings, 19% carried credit card debt over time, and 20% sold things to cover household costs.

Even so, New Mexican parents are actively seeking paths for greater financial stability for themselves and their families. Nearly half (46%) are looking for better-paying jobs or promotions, 36% are working an extra job, and 25% are starting or considering a side business. Nearly one-fourth (23%) have applied for public benefits.

It comes as no surprise, then, that New Mexican families are greatly supportive of economic policies and reforms that would provide relief. There is near-universal belief (99%) that focusing on the creation of jobs that pay living wages with benefits is important (including 80% who say it is “very important”). Similarly, 97% that say it is important to bring down the cost of household items, including groceries (74% “very important”).

Survey Methodology

The poll was commissioned by Abriendo Puertas and UnidosUS. The poll, fielded March 9 to April 17, 2026 (n=250, +/- 6.2%), was implemented through a blended approach including web-based and telephone interviews that include both landlines and cell phones. The survey was fielded in English or Spanish , depending on respondents’ preference,  with a total of 44 surveys conducted in Spanish. Data was compared to the best-known estimates of the U.S. Census Current Population Survey (CPS) for demographic profile of United States adults and post-stratification weights were applied to bring the data into direct balance with Census estimates. The poll was led by Dr. Gabriel Sanchez and Dr. Matt Barreto from BSP Research, LLC.