Where though? It isn't the case here in Sweden, it's pretty great.
That sounds like a distribution problem. They should mail out checks and let the parents decide how to utilize it: au pair, group childcare home, professional daycare facility, paying grandma to stay in the third bedroom.
I had great childcare that was subsidized such that my parents paid 7$ a day when I was a kid.
This hasn’t been my personal and 2nd hand experience.