Who should care for our kids? The effects of infant child care on early child development

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between various types of child care during the first year of a child's life and the child's language and social development measured at age three. A unique contribution of the paper is the estimation of a general selection-correction model that accounts for non-random selection of children into different types of child care. The analysis uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), a birth cohort of children born to predominantly low-income single mothers. The results indicate that compared with maternal care, relative care during infancy has more beneficial effects on a child's language development, while day care centers have more beneficial effects on a child's behavioral development.

Non-parental childcare attendance prior to school entry and children’s internalising and externalising symptoms: an individual participant data meta-analysis of six child cohort studies (EU Child Cohort Network)

“…This is consistent with another study which found that children from low-income families had less internalising symptoms if they received quality centre-based childcare [42]. Children growing up in disadvantaged families may bene t from interactions with the caregivers which may encourage exploration and development, as well as provide cognitive stimulation and education, which may improve the child's social development [42]. We also found that children growing up in intermediate/high SEP families who attended noncentre based childcare had higher levels of externalising symptoms between ages 5-6 years and 7-9 years than exclusive parental care.…”

“…When examining possible moderating effects of family SEP, we found that children from a low SEP family experienced lower levels of internalising symptoms between ages 5-6 years if they attended centre-based childcare. This is consistent with another study which found that children from low-income families had less internalising symptoms if they received quality centre-based childcare [42]. Children growing up in disadvantaged families may bene t from interactions with the caregivers which may encourage exploration and development, as well as provide cognitive stimulation and education, which may improve the child's social development [42].…”

Family Childcare Types and Conduct Problem Behaviors in Young Children: The Mediation Role of Caregiver-Child Interaction

“…Most studies found that non-maternal childcare would impose adverse impact on child psychobehaviroal development, such as increasing aggression, troublesome and oppositionality, etc. ( 40 – 42 ); however, the above association might not be true for those children who were from poor family with low-educated mothers but were receiving non-maternal care ( 25 ). Father involvement in childcare was widely supported by prior research as associated with improvement for psychological, cognitive, and academic development of children ( 14 , 18 , 19 ).…”

“…Many studies consistently showed that children who experienced multiple and concurrent childcare arrangements displayed more internalizing and externalizing behavior problems and fewer prosocial behaviors ( 12 , 22 – 24 ). There were also a large pool of research focusing on the role of formal care, which however, also concluded inconsistent findings regarding its association with psychobehavioral outcomes in children, with some studies favoring that childcare arrangement while others not ( 14 , 22 , 25 , 26 ). Besides, previous research largely focused on non-parental childcare (especially formal care) arrangements in Western countries, while few consideration has been given to family or informal childcare common in the rest of globe, including in Asian countries like China ( 27 ).…”

Comparing center-based with home-based child care: type of care moderates the association between process quality and child functioning

“…The child and family populations may be different in center-based and home-based child care and, hence, taking into account these several variables in the analysis deserves attention in comparative studies. Gender, age, and SES are often used as basic demographic covariates, generally complemented with the quantity of child care (e.g., Coley et al, 2013 ;NICHD, 2003 ;Peng & Robins, 2010 ). Child temperament and parenting stress are usually not included as a covariate, although they predict child functioning as well (e.g., Belsky & Pluess, 2012 ;Boyce & Ellis, 2005 ).…”