Zohran Mamdanis much-touted universal and free childcare scheme for New York City is now projected to cost taxpayers billions more than originally claimed.
As reported by the New York Post, a new analysis finds that Mamdanis universal childcare plan will cost 50% more than he advertised, according to a new study. The report from the Center for New York City Affairs, a nonpartisan research group affiliated with the New School, estimates the proposed program would carry a whopping $9 billion annually, approximately with an average cost per child roughly $27,000.
The study concludes that An estimated $8.7 to $9.3 billion would be needed annually to fund universal child care in New York City, a staggering figure for a city already burdened by high taxes and heavy regulation. That is $3 billion more than the mayor previously said his ambitious universal free childcare program would cost, underscoring the familiar pattern of government programs exploding in price once the campaign slogans fade.
Mamdani had pledged on the campaign trail that making childcare free for children from six weeks to five years old, regardless of family income, would run about $6 billion per year, to be financed by higher taxes on the states wealthiest residents. The $3 billion shortfall identified in the study is largely tied to teacher pay, with the Center for NYC Affairs estimating that some 23,000 new childcare workers will need to be hired, mainly for infants and children under three years old.
For conservatives who have long warned that nothing the government funds is ever truly free, these revelations simply confirm the dangers of expansive, tax-hungry social programs. When this plan is finally implementedif it isNew Yorkers may well discover that todays $9 billion estimate is only the beginning, as costs, bureaucracy, and dependency continue to grow while accountability to taxpayers shrinks.
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