A Little Venting but a Real Problem

I am frustrated. I should be going back to work within the month so we are looking for childcare options for Mina. Turns out, the first four years can be as expensive as sending your kid to college... a moderately expensive college. I'm sure Ben and I would qualify for some sort of government assistance but I don't really want to apply as I don't think we should have to use that and it will probably take six months and a lot of headaches getting the application processed by which time one of us may have gotten a raise and we'd have to start over again.
I had a brilliant plan to deal with this problem. Ben and I could work offset shifts so we would only need daycare for 3-4 hours each day. But I was overlooking  something. I assumed that daycare centers wanted to do all they could to meet the needs of the parents. Turns out they do all they can for parents who work 9-5 monday through friday and don't go into work on federal holidays (even the small ones like Columbus Day) or in inclement weather. They also assume your kid never gets sick and if she does, you can drop everything and be there to pick her up within the hour. Wouldn't it be nice if that actually even remotely resembled how the world worked? Most daycares in our area have a rate for full-time daycare but won't take children for part day since it disrupts the schedule. I also have yet to find one that is open on Saturdays. I don't expect all daycares to cater to my family's personal needs. I did expect to find some recognized people other than businessmen might want to put children in daycare.
Instead, we may have to find a nanny. The average hourly pay for nannies in DC is $15-$18. I really want Mina to get the best care possible when I'm not around but from a practical standpoint, I cannot pay a nanny more than what I'm making in an hour. It just doesn't make sense. This leaves me with a difficult conundrum, one probably faced by many lower income moms. The question is no longer "Can I afford to stay home," but is instead, "Can I afford to go back to work?" The sad conclusion is that it is going to be really difficult to afford either. And I thought getting a job would be the hard part.
So for now we have some difficult decisions to make. If we do hire a nanny, it would only be for a few hours so we can afford it. I actually liked the idea of Mina going to daycare and being with other babies though, so I will keep looking to see if any do half-days or are open on Saturdays. It probably doesn't help that we are looking in downtown DC where everything seems to shut down on the weekends. Wish us luck.
It would be a lot easier for me to overlook this problem if it were just a difficulty for our family. I'm guessing it's a problem that faces many, especially lower income families who would struggle to afford daycare anyway and don't get such luxuries as paid sick days or vacation time they could use to take care of their kids. I'm not trying to suggest that nannies are greedy or don't deserve what they are making (well not all nannies, the one asking for $25/hour is an exception). I also don't think daycare workers make extravagant salaries. I just see a problem and maybe it's a little naive, but I think there has to be a way we can fix it. Suggestions anyone?