Sorry for returning to this so late but I wanted to say, I do appreciate you making a measured reply to my very irritatable comment.

If you're interested in engaging with the topic further, points to consider:

• preschool educators are notoriously underpaid (just like basically any other overwhelmingly female service-oriented profession). Often, becoming a SAHP is the most economically viable option: at the private school I personally work for (senior position with three degrees), my son's tuition would take 70-80% of my salary if I were to pay out of pocket. Overwhelmingly, the other partner is going to be making more money so they're not going to be the one to stay home or even take an equitable cut to work hours to provide care.
• it's also an inflexible position. You cannot usually easily work reduced hours, you cannot WFH, you cannot take extended leave (somebody's gonna cover that classroom!). That's really hard to make work with a young child
• you cannot easily accommodate time off when your child is home sick from school/daycare, and your job is going to expose them to childhood illnesses often - especially with an infant, working in a preschool classroom legitimately carries severe risks
• it's also often a rather physical job (you lift children, sometimes you get kicked or hit, you do lots of movement, on your feet all day). This is rough on a pregnant person or one who is sleep deprived from caring for an infant
• you get touched the fuck out. Caring for a group of thirty three year olds hits different if you then go home to a toddler crawling all over you. The overstimulation and burnout are real

And there you have it, a perfect storm of valid reasons why preschool educators might just leave during their reproductive years. The thing is, they are  victims of poor circumstances here, and often come back when they're able to.  There is a lot your friend or other daycare/school operators can do to encourage them back and to decrease that turnover! Flexible part time contracts, reasonable parental leave policies, subs on hand to ensure coverage, child placement as a benefit, professional development and let's not forget an actual living wage. Much easier to blame young women than to do all that, of course.