Non cognitive skills and childcare attendance

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the impact of formal childcare attendance at ages 0-2 on children's attitudes toward schooling and on social behavior at the end of the subjects' first year of primary school and at the end of high school. We compare children who attended formal childcare with children who were looked after at home, but who otherwise shared similar characteristics, both in terms of family characteristics and in terms of the probability of having access to formal childcare in Italy, where the service is rationed. We find that having attended formal childcare significantly improves school readiness and social behavior in elementary school but that this impact disappears in high school. The effects are larger for boys and for children of mothers with lower educational attainment and of fathers in low-level occupations.JEL classification J13 • D1 • I26.

Manifestations of the ethics of hospitality at children's hospitality centres in Saudi Arabia

“…For example, a study conducted by Ghirardi et al (2023) demonstrated that children who attend childcare centres under the age of three have higher cognitive, social and emotional skills compared to those who received parental or home childcare. Another study found that attending formal childcare centres improves children's school readiness and social behaviour (Boca et al, 2022).…”

Early Childcare Duration and Students' Later Outcomes in Europe

“…European studies of formal childcare have been conducted in Denmark (Datta Gupta et al, 2016;Rossin-Slater and Wuest, 2020), Norway (Haves and Mogstad, 2015), Spain (Felfe et al, 2015), and Italy (Brilli et al, 2016;Del Boca et al, 2021;Fort et al, 2020). Duncan et al (2022) note that "Universal programmes […] are open for all, but children from disadvantaged families are typically prioritised or more heavily subsidised relative to advantaged families."…”