POLITICS: Government, not greed, is to blame for NYC’s childcare crisis

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign message was simple: New York City’s cost of living is too high.

True, starting a family and raising children have become unaffordable in New York City — and Mamdani believes his socialist plans are the answer. 

“We will deliver universal child care for the many by taxing the wealthiest few,” he said in his inaugural speech last week.

The scale of the city’s problem is undeniable: Three of the four most expensive US counties for child care, in terms of share of family income, are within New York City: The Bronx, Queens and Kings County (Brooklyn). 

Day-care center costs in The Bronx, for example, range from $300 to $406 per week ($15,600 to $21,112 a year) depending on the child’s age — but with a median household income of only $48,610, center-based child care is completely out of reach for most local families.

But taxing the rich and communist redistribution won’t solve the problem — because it’s caused not by capitalist greed, but by a web of city and state regulations that make operating a child-care center a bureaucratic and financial nightmare. 

First, look to New York City’s staffing ratios and classroom limitations, which enforce highly specific and restrictive rules.

The city’s health code lays out six separate categories of child-to-staff ratios, such that a single teacher may be responsible for no more than four babies under 12 months, or only six 2-year-olds.   

On top of that, the city layers strict classroom limitations — as low as eight infants and 10 toddlers per room — driving up expenses in neighborhoods where space is tight and rents are high.

These ratios are more stringent than those in most other major cities, translating into significant labor and other costs.

Then come physical space requirements, another factor driving Gotham’s high child-care rates.

New York state regulations mandate that child-care classrooms contain at least 35 square feet of space per child — not counting bathrooms, kitchens and other areas — as well as a “separate quiet area” for children who become ill during the day.

In practice more room is often required, restricting the number of kids enrolled in each class even further.

Add to that the challenge of hiring and keeping quality staff.

Turnover in the child-care industry is high, and every time a teacher leaves, it’s not just the children who lose stability — the center takes a financial hit, too.

Replacing a single employee can cost $5,000 to $10,000 or even more in recruiting expenses and the lost time and productivity that comes with constant churn.

New York City also mandates a minimum wage of $17 per hour, contributing greatly to its baseline child-care costs.

That expense will only worsen if Mamdani gets his way — he proposes a $30 minimum wage, which would increase the cost of child-care exorbitantly.

Licensing and compliance are equally painful requirements for city child-care centers, which must secure licenses from either the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene or the Office of Children and Family Services.

That process includes annual renewals, safety audits, record-keeping for up to five years, and compliance fees of $1,000 or more annually.

Seen against this already burdensome regulatory backdrop, Mamdani’s promises of free child care for all children from six weeks to 5 years old isn’t merely an ambitious goal; it’s an outright fantasy.

(Not to mention — as Minnesota’s example demonstrates — a concept that’s ripe for fraud.)

His centralized, all-of-government approach to child care ignores the core driver of costs: the government itself.

By contrast, cities like Houston and Atlanta have managed to keep child-care costs low by adopting more flexible spacing requirements, less rigid staffing ratios, and a more streamlined licensing process.

Their child-care systems could benefit from free-market solutions, but both are more accessible and more sustainable than New York City’s restrictive model.

Instead of funneling taxpayer dollars into a public child-care system burdened by the same regulatory quagmire that already exists, New York City should consider alternatives like deregulation and tax credits for child-care providers and young families.

That would empower parents to choose care that suits their needs, encourage competition among providers, and reduce the administrative overhead that drives prices up.

Mamdani is right to focus on child care, but his solution risks turning a bloated, overregulated system into a bankrupt, overregulated system.

If New York wants affordable, high-quality care for its youngest residents, it should start by loosening its own grip.

Nicole Huyer is a senior research associate in the Roe Institute at The Heritage Foundation, where William DuVall is a member of the Young Leaders Program.