While it is true that the U.S. "has no national system of childcare provision," the statement is incomplete.
First of all, under the U.S. tax code, parents can qualify for up to about $6000 in tax credits for childcare. Also, under the 1990's "welfare to work"
legislature, the Federal govt. subsidizes childcare for
low income individuals. In the state that I live in,
the federal subsidy alone amounts to well over half a billion U.S. dollars per year. To qualify for the money, children must be placed in state licensed facilities. One can argue about the efficiency of the system, or even whether it can be called a system, but the national government does spend a considerable amount of money (both directly and through so-called tax expenditures) on childcare.

Paul Sracic
Professor and Chair
Department of Political Science
Rigelhaupt Pre-Law Center
Youngstown State University