“Child care clearly matters to children’s development, but family characteristics — and children’s experiences within their families — appear to matter more.”
The study demonstrated that quality, quantity, and type of child care — defined as any care provided on a regular basis by someone other than the child’s mother — are modestly linked to the development of children up to age four-and-a-half. Among the study’s major findings that are described in the booklet:
- Children who received higher quality child care were better able to think, respond, and interact with the world around them—and had somewhat better reading and math skills—than children who received lower quality child care.
- Children who spent 30 or more hours in child care each week showed somewhat more problem behavior in child care and in kindergarten (but not at home) and had more episodes of minor illness than children who spent fewer hours in child care each week
- Children who attended child care centers had somewhat better language and social skills and better pre-academic skills involving letters and numbers, but showed somewhat more problem behavior when they first entered school than did children who experienced other types of child care settings.
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However, parent and family features were two to three times more strongly linked to child development than was child care during the preschool years.
For example, children did better when parents were more educated, when families’ incomes were higher, when mothers had fewer or no symptoms of depression, and when families had well organized routines, books, and play materials, and took part in learning activities.
These features were as important to the well-being of children who had been in child care as they were for children who had not been in child care.
Study researchers periodically visited each child and family at home, in child care (if used), and in a laboratory playroom at each of the 10 sites. They also contacted families regularly by phone and by mail. Using tests, questionnaires, and direct observation, researchers collected information on how children responded to their environment, how they were developing in relation to what is typical at a given age, how they interacted with their parents and other children, and what their usual mood or personality was.
They also looked at children’s home environments; parents’ attitudes toward work, family, and child care; how child care was structured; and how providers cared for children.
Children in child care centers that met accreditation standards for adult-to-child ratios, group size, and training of staff had somewhat more reading and math knowledge and better language comprehension. They also were somewhat more cooperative at age three than children in centers that did not meet the standards. In essence, the more standards the child care met, the better children did.
Even though links existed between child care features and child development, the quality of interactions between mothers and children was more important for children’s development. Children did better if mothers were more sensitive, responsive, and attentive. And mothers were more likely to be like this if they were more educated, lived in more economically advantaged households, and had more positive personalities.
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