> Childcare has gone up 30% in the last few years alone and wages, as you have likely experienced, have not.

This is a major statement, and I don't think it's fully qualified.

Why have childcare expenses imcreased by 30% in the past few years? There should be an arbitrage opportunity if costs have stayed fixed. If costs have increased, is it due to general economic pressures or increased regulatory burden? If the former, wages should catch up (and flooding the market with additional labor likely will exert downward pressue market wages). If the latter, then why on earth are we passing such nonsense regulation?

In either case, moving out of a major metro is always an option.