No one has accused roads and fire services of being free.

Yes, it actually is, to many people.

Poll a random subset of people with the question "are you in favor of free childcare?". X% will say yes.

Poll another set with the question "are you in favor of taxpayer funded childcare?". Y% will say yes.

I would bet any amount of money that X>Y, and (X-Y)% of people did not think about the fact that a free government service is not actually free.

Exactly how big X and Y are, I couldn't say. But identifying propaganda and deceptive language is never something that should be discouraged, even when it's advocating for a cause you agree with.

We shouldn’t subsidize employers who fail to pay a living wage.

We also shouldn’t put our finger on the economic scale such that it’s impossible to afford having a family unless both parents work.

There’s no such thing as “free”, and every intervention like this has sweeping and widely unanticipated consequences.

Nevermind the question of whether it’s best for child development, for which we have plenty of evidence showing the answer is “no”.

Me? I'm not opposed to it. I think tax-payer funded attempts to increase birthrates in our own population are a good idea. We should be doing more to encourage people to have and raise children.

I'm opposed to weasel words and intentionally misleading people about how economies and governments work. I'm also not particularly confident encouraging people to have their children raised by strangers is a good idea.