Childcare is fundamentally expensive because it fundamentally involves a large portion of a person's labor and this labor needs to be local to you. One person c

Childcare is fundamentally expensive because it fundamentally involves a large portion of a person's labor and this labor needs to be local to you. One person can only watch so many infants (and we have reasonable regulations limiting the number people are allowed to watch). Even if you eliminate all other overhead costs (rent, admin, materials, insurance, etc) you are still paying for a large portion of somebody's salary. The reason childcare feels expensive is because society has spent generations undervaluing childrearing as labor.