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New York state’s was ranked second-worst in the US for its costly, stringent rules on child care centers, a new analysis claimed.
The right-leaning think tank the Archbridge Institute said the Empire State should be looking to cut down bureaucratic red tape and “end regulatory” burdens to drive costs down — instead of plans favored by Democrats Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to funnel taxpayer money to expand coverage for youngsters.
“Rather than pursuing costly taxpayer-funded subsidies and state-sponsored programs, we recommend reducing regulatory burdens on childcare providers that ultimately harm parents by increasing barriers to entry and raising the cost of childcare,” the group said in its “child care freedom” analysis — which ranked Vermont at No. 50.
“On the issue of childcare, a more affordable America means a less regulated America—from one state to the next.”
The study rates state policies and regulations for center-based child care facilities, including child-to-staff ratio requirements by age; maximum group sizes by age; required annual training hours for staff; and minimum educational requirements for center directors and lead teachers.
States with higher education requirements to obtain a license to become child care directors and teachers received a lower grade.
New York’s 1.87 score ranked significantly lower than the other most populous states — Florida ranked fifth, Texas ninth and California No. 13.
The Empire State ranked poorly for having low child-to-staff ratios — 8-to-1 for 4-year-olds and 9-to-1 for 5-year-olds.
California, by comparison, had no maximum group size except for toddlers under 27 months.
Florida offers a higher child-to-staff ratio for 3-year-olds (15:1), 4-year-olds (20:1), and 5-year-olds (25:1).
Edward Timmons, the Archridge Institute’s vice president of policy, said New York should find other solutions to bringing down costs instead of using taxpayer dollars to provide free care.
“Instead of fiscally reckless proposals to provide free child care, Gov. Hochul should work with legislators to loosen overly restrictive regulations in New York to increase choice and improve competition,” Timmons said Sunday.
“Increasing the number of children permitted to be supervised by staff and increasing maximum group size will give parents more choice in the market,” he went on. “Research shows that these regulations do not improve quality of care or child safety, but we do know that they are associated with higher costs.”
One state lawmaker said rules are put in place for a reason, especially when dealing with the youngest children.
“It’s a smart thing to look at regulations. But we want our children to be safe and we want to educate them,” said Bronx Assemblyman Michael Benedetto, chairs the education committee.
“It’s a fine line,” he added.
According to Archbridge’s 2026 index, the five least-regulated states for child care are Idaho — which ranked first — followed by South Carolina, Arizona, Alabama and Florida.
Pennsylvania, Maryland and Massachusetts followed Vermont and New York rounded out the bottom five of the list.
Child care costs many of the city’s families more than $20,000 per year, among the most expensive in the nation.
In New York, Hochul rolled out a $4.5 billion, multi-year plan to phase in universal child care.
Her proposed “2-Care” program for all 2-year-olds in the Big Apple, along with a buildup of existing pre-K and early childcare in the rest of New York, will ultimately provide care for 100,000 more children across the state.
It has the backing of Mamdani, who made a campaign pledge to eventually provide free child care for all kids in the city starting at six weeks, and proposing tax hikes on the rich and corporations to pay for it.
The report noted that federal law has triggered more state regulations of child care.
The 2014 reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant required all states receiving federal funding to set group size and child-to-staff ratio restrictions, in addition to other new licensure requirements.
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