BTW, everything else I agree with. Childcare is criminally expensive here.
One reason Americans find it hard to imagine raising a family in an 900 sq ft (85 m^2) unit is that if you design it this way, it really isn't a lot of space for a family, or at least not space laid out in a useful way for a family. That much space would typically be only a 1-bd in SF or one of the newer NYC buildings (maybe even a studio). While in much of Europe it'd be a 2-bd, or 3-bd, and even compared to American 2-bds the space would be laid out more practically (e.g. less space devoted to those giant bathrooms and walk-in closets).
I guess at some point something changed. The layout of houses in the US just lost the ability to be functional and tasteful. I did lose the walk-in closet, dual vanity sinks, gift wrapping room, and letter writing room (joking on the last 2).
[0] https://www.century21.fr/trouver_logement/detail/1339155193/...
Friends of ours even went so far as to buy 2 1BR that were above and below, knock a hole out and put in a staircase. We thought of doing the same, buy 2 adjoining studio flats. We lucked into an abandoned apartment (which presented some other problems).