Childcare is expensive because the combination of skill and commitment necessary to do it well is rare enough to demand significant payment. Moms (used to) do it as a labor of love. What's a mother's love - or the closest available substitute - worth on the open market? Do you really want your kid reared by someone making $17k to watch several kids? The Quebec data seem to say "Non."

The solution is a child-care subsidy, not to pay for care, but to enable a parent to provide it. The offshoot would be higher wages for everyone, more automation of crap jobs, and better adjusted children. What's not to like?