We're in a medium COL area and at ~$400/wk per kid. Our daycare accepts state subsidies and kids as young as 6 weeks. The wait list was ~15 months long. It's ve

We're in a medium COL area and at ~$400/wk per kid. Our daycare accepts state subsidies and kids as young as 6 weeks. The wait list was ~15 months long. It's very much the cheapest in the area. Friends about an hour outside of Portland are at ~$500/wk, wait list of ~12 months Friends in Knoxville are at ~800k/wk, wait list of ~2.5 years, and they have access to university daycare. Friends in the Bay Area are at ~350/wk, wait list of ~12 months. Daycare is super local, from what I can see. Still, it's crazy expensive even with state subsidies. And the wait lists are really long. I've not heard of one that was less than a normal human gestation period. NPR had a good story on how daycare is a failed market : https://www.npr.org/2023/02/02/1153931108/day-care-market-expensive-child-care-waitlists https://www.npr.org/2023/02/02/1153931108/day-care-market-ex... TLDL: Anytime you have a wait list, you have screwed up your capitalism somehow. You should be raising prices instead. Daycare is unique as most families cannot possibly afford that 'true' market rate. Think lighthouses. This is why nearly every country on the planet, and some US states, step in to help. The US is the only country that has this problem, and it really is a big problem.