Day-Care, An 'Essential Service' or Taxpayer-Funded Social Engineering?

Could someone please explain to me why the general taxpayer should be paying to provide day-care spaces for young families? The federal and provincial governments have both rushed to this latest exercise in how to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on something which is clearly a family, not government, responsibility - one of the 'costs' of having children if both parents want/need to work. I am amazed at how quietly this seems to have been accepted by taxpayers and I can only assume that it is a matter of most parents feeling that they will get back more than they have to put in. Of course, if it were at best only family revenue neutral, one wouldn't think that there would be much enthusiasm for the idea, so it must be felt by the parents of young children that all of the childless couples, those with children already in school and those who are empty-nesters will ensure that they receive considerably more than they put in, even after the inevitable 'administration costs' are factored in.
Our local MLA, Ron Cantelon has recently posted an announcement on his website (http://www.roncantelonmla.bc.ca) detailing the provincial government's contribution of $500,000 to create 32 day-care spaces at the soon-to-be-moving-to-Lantzville Aspengrove School. That works out to be $15,625 for each space created, which is almost double the provincial average of $8,270/new space, an average which already includes the much higher Lantzville numbers. The total cost of the Aspengrove day-care project is given as $1,045,596, which works out to be $20,108 for each of the 52 (32 new+20 existing) spaces. I would very much like to know what we couples without children in this age-group are going to be realizing out of spending that kind of money.
In a fine example of quid pro quo (MLA Cantelon recently appeared in a District of Lantzville sewer funding announcement), Lantzville Mayor, Colin Haime, is quoted in the piece as being "very pleased that the Aspengrove Centre has received this funding". Appears to me that it's in keeping with his philosophy on infrastructure grants for things such as water and sewer where we have come to accept no, welcome, one level or other of government taking our tax money and then using it in an effort to buy our votes by funneling it back to 'worthy' communities, less those 'administration costs', of course. It is all done in such a fashion that we are left thinking that we have somehow 'made out like bandits', but with an uneasy feeling that we're missing something. Sort of like how it's only the 'rich' who get taxed.