My husband and I are college professors. I think that places us solidly in the "middle class." However, even though we live in a fairly low rent apartment, have only one car and are both fully employed, we can't actually find child care we can afford. Every month we barely balance our checkbook and we only have one child! I have no idea how families do it who do not have the job security and relatively good wages that we have (not to mention the health care benefits). It simply seems to make more sense for a lot of families I know to have someone stay home with their child until that child enters school. Unfortunately, that comes with a long term cost in their family's income since long term career prospects are severely damaged by being out of the workforce for years at a time. This simply can not be good for our economy. If the government really wants to help the economy, try helping struggling families afford the basics that makes it possible for them to continue to be productive workers.