Not sure if it's analogous. The day care scenario replaced the guilt of leaving your child at day care too long with a fine that removed that guilt.
Clearly, you can fix the daycare scenario by 1) communicating to the parents picking up their children late the pain that causes the workers; 2) Ratcheting up the fine so that it is clearly painful to parents; 3) Ban parents who still flaunt the system.
Rather tha guilt I think the factor in play can be described as cheap overtime daycare. It's actually more valuable to pay $3 and get more flexibility in your day rather save $3 and be on time.
Need to see the dentist after work but you'd have to first pick your kid and have him sit in the waiting room while you're in? No problem, pay $3, let him play at the daycare and go to see your dentist first, then pick him up.
Isn’t this just a mispriced externality? I.e. if the late pickup fee was actually charged at market rates it would be what, $500? (random guess obviously)
Mhm, isn't that one of the recommendations for freelancing when you get an offer that you don't really want to do and you don't want to say 'no' to their face?
Give them a price quote so ludicrously high they either walk away balking or take you up on it, which means that while you're doing the job you didn't want you also get a ton of money and some data on how much your services are valued.
In this case, apply to the daycarer actually staying late.
