The Effects of Child Care on Development
THE EFFECTS OF CHILD CARE 1
A variety of changes in the world have demanded an increase in the need for child care. Some of theses changes include migration, poverty, and urbanization. These economic and societal changes are forcing more and more woman into the workforce. Among these are young women and mothers. From the 1970’s to the 1990’s there was a major increase in the need for child care. In March of 1970, 26% of mothers with children under the age of 2 were working outside the home. By the same month in 1984 that number had reached 46.8 %( U.S. Dept of Labor 1984.) Now a days that number is even higher and according to the 2006 census, the number of preschoolers under the age of 5 living with employed mothers reached 11,207. The Children’s Defense Fund estimates that about six million infants and toddlers are in child care. For many families, day care is an integral part of their family operating smoothly. Recently there has been an outpour of viewpoints regarding whether day care has a direct impact on a child’s development. There is a strong amount of support behind the fact that the stability between the child’s experiences at home and at day care proved development and that any major differences among the two environments were likely to pose developmental obstacles. There is also research supporting the idea that children fro a lower education or economical background can in fact benefit from a difference in environments if this setting provides more than the family home can and/or does. Despite the amount of varying opinions, there is truth in the research studies showing that if given high quality care, child care is definitely not detrimental to a child’s development and can actually prove to be beneficial. Quality child care can be best describes as, “small group sizes, low child-adult ratios, caregiver’s non controlling beliefs, and a safe, clean
THE EFFECTS OF CHILD CARE 3 stimulating physical environments. (NICHD Early Childhood Care Research
A variety of changes in the world have demanded an increase in the need for child care. Some of theses changes include migration, poverty, and urbanization. These economic and societal changes are forcing more and more woman into the workforce. Among these are young women and mothers. From the 1970’s to the 1990’s there was a major increase in the need for child care. In March of 1970, 26% of mothers with children under the age of 2 were working outside the home. By the same month in 1984 that number had reached 46.8 %( U.S. Dept of Labor 1984.) Now a days that number is even higher and according to the 2006 census, the number of preschoolers under the age of 5 living with employed mothers reached 11,207. The Children’s Defense Fund estimates that about six million infants and toddlers are in child care. For many families, day care is an integral part of their family operating smoothly. Recently there has been an outpour of viewpoints regarding whether day care has a direct impact on a child’s development. There is a strong amount of support behind the fact that the stability between the child’s experiences at home and at day care proved development and that any major differences among the two environments were likely to pose developmental obstacles. There is also research supporting the idea that children fro a lower education or economical background can in fact benefit from a difference in environments if this setting provides more than the family home can and/or does. Despite the amount of varying opinions, there is truth in the research studies showing that if given high quality care, child care is definitely not detrimental to a child’s development and can actually prove to be beneficial. Quality child care can be best describes as, “small group sizes, low child-adult ratios, caregiver’s non controlling beliefs, and a safe, clean
THE EFFECTS OF CHILD CARE 3 stimulating physical environments. (NICHD Early Childhood Care Research