I think so. Over ten years ago, I was paying over a thousand dollars a month for child care (private day care at someone’s house, then a combo of the lady’s house combined with a nursery school). I don’t know how I did it, and that was post taxes, so it’s money that if I didn’t have a kid, would have gone into the bank.
Another thing that many people don’t remember is that when you have a school-aged child, you’re not going on vacation during the cheaper times like October and May or winter. You’re going on vacation when most other families are going on vacation – the week between Christmas and New Year’s, spring break, and July and August. Vacation spots are extra busy and flights are most expensive then.