The other thing that doesn’t make sense to me is the economics of it. The pay for the staff is very low but the cost of service to parents is very high. That means so much of the cost is overhead which would make the whole thing quite unsustainable, even when ostensibly covered by the government.
I live in Canada and a similar issue is occurring with our universal health care system. The costs are skyrocketing even as wait times are increasing.
So beyond everyone going back to a Neolithic way of life and living in a bunch of straw teepees all bundled close together, daycare is the best solution I've found to this need.
Just as an example, my oldest has been besties with another kid since they were both 7 months old.