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Publication #FAR0305

 

The Good, the Bad, and Other Effects Of Childcare1

Patricia Bartlett and Donna Davis2

Figure 1. 
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Results from a recent study of almost 15,000 children from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development reveal both positive and negative effects of organized childcare and preschool, both immediate and long-term.

According to the study, day care has a positive effect on intellectual development. The children benefit from their exposure to mathematics, vocabulary, and memory skills, and those acquired skills persist at least into the third grade. Benefits were greatest among children from the poorest families (Jacobson, 2005).

However, children in day care lag behind children with stay-at-home moms when it comes to social development. Children with a lot of time in day care centers also have more problems with mother-child conflict and school conduct (Jacobson, 2005).

Yet, aggressive behavior, including conflict, that had been found in previous studies of young children who received full-time care outside the home turned out to be temporary, fading by the time the children reached the third grade. Another surprising result was a difference between the daycare and non-daycare groups, which doesn't show up for years. In the third grade it was found that children who spent the most time in day care had poor school work habits compared to their peers in stay-at-home or part-time day care (Jacobson, 2005).

In making the decision when and where to put a child in a childcare setting, parents must understand the potential impacts of childcare. By being informed of the pros and cons as well as short and long-term outcomes, parents can better prepare for their child's next important leap into kindergarten and elementary school.

Listening, learning, and living together: it's the science of life. "Family Album" is a co-production of University of Florida IFAS Extension, the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, and of WUFT-FM. If you'd like to learn more, please visit our website at http://www.familyalbumradio.org.

To listen to the radio broadcast:

http://www.radiosource.net/radio_stories/320.mp3

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Reference

Jacobson, L. (November.2005) Studies find payoff, drawbacks persist for pupils in preschool and child care. Retrieved November 11, 2005, from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2005/11/02/10care.h25.html.

Footnotes

1.

This document is FAR0305, one of a series of the Family Youth and Community Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Broadcast as program 320 in January 2007. Published on EDIS September 2012. In the interest of time and/or clarity, the broadcast version of this script may have been modified. Visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

Patricia Bartlett, staff writer, and Donna Davis, senior producer, Family Album Radio, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, Dean.