> A child at home with a parent until kindergarten is probably going to spend the first 4 years of their life in a small apartment with one adult
This is such a strange take. Do you really imagine you and the child will be locked up all day in your apartment? Most cities are not warzones or quarantine areas. Cities have playgrounds and parks, and the child will probably insist on going to one at the minimum daily. The local branch of the city library will have storytelling sessions at least once a week, likely more; and when the storyteller is done, there will be the shelves of early books your child will love to explore. Cities will have lots of kids of the same age group on your block, probably even in your apartment building; your child will inevitably play with them. There will be friends and relatives who will visit you and whom you will visit. Perhaps organized play dates with friends' kids who live further away. And some sort of local young family meetups, organized at the library or playground or via the local Facebook group. There will be parades, festivals, strolls through the historical center, beach days, museum visits, barbecues in the public park... Unless you make a deliberate effort to avoid all of that, your child will surely get socialized.