New Mexico’s impending demographic disaster

One argument that I occasionally hear about New Mexico’s manifestly failed public policies is that voters don’t want the State to grow too fast and take on attributes associated with places like Phoenix or Denver (crowding, traffic, outsiders moving there). That argument doesn’t hold water (of course) because New Mexico suffers from worse social and economic outcomes than ANY of our neighbors thanks in large part to the failed policies our elected officials have implemented over many decades (but especially recently).

However, the BIGGEST SINGLE THREAT TO NEW MEXICO is the loss of our young people. Check out the following chart from Wire Points Illinois. The chart shows the growth or decline of people 18 years of age and under in certain US states between 2020 and 2024. You can see the chart below. As can be seen, New Mexico saw the 2nd-biggest decline in its youth population during the time period.

Ultimately, we recommend that New Mexico politicians and those running for office highlight this demographic decline and its implications for the future. Of course a powerful question to prospective voters could be: If you want your kids and grandkids to remain in New Mexico we need to provide them good jobs and diverse economic opportunities and a functional education system. This is clearly not currently the case and it is the failed policies of those who have run New Mexico for decades who have failed us.

Noteworthy as well are the low tax, reasonable regulation states that see tremendous growth in their younger populations. Four of the top-ten have no personal income tax and are also “right to work” states.