[silisili]

An enterprising person, great with children, would see an opportunity to make 72k a year to watch three kids. And another might offer to do it for 60k, and so on.

Regulations prevent that, and kill the free market. Now everyone pays a crapton to some facility where the owner jumped through all the hoops to get certified, while hiring minimum wage people to care for the kids. Not that some aren't great, but is it really a better system?

[tayo42]

Idk if your selling it well. Plenty of other careers will pay more and give you health insurance and stability. Probably with alot less work too.

[redbluered]

Reality shows that the outcome are centers with a television on 24/7, or where kids are given drugs to sleep. That's not the exception but the rule. That's why inspections and licensing came in.

The longterm costs of that -- crime, mental health, etc. -- explain why subsidies make sense. Every rich country has universal public education for a good reason.

Market forces, as you point out, will drive your enterprising person making 72k out-of-business very quickly, and the market becomes a cesspool.