Previous Story
Study says child care in the US is adequate
|
Posted on Jul 02 1999
Children in care-providing centers show quick cognitive and language development, according to recent study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development or NICHD.
The study also found that more hours in care centers “have some negative effects on the mother-child relationship.”
The effects, however “are small and ultimately do not disrupt a child’s ability to form an attachment to his or her mother.”
“This is really the biggest study of development and early experiences that exist,” said Margaret T. Owen, one of the researchers and associate professor of the human development of the University of Texas at Dallas.
Child care providers and educators in the US have described the finding as “surprising” and “reassuring” given that some sectors have questioned whether children in large centers can receive adequate one-on-one attention from caregivers.
The NIHCD study did not isolate a single type of child care such as centers of family child care. It looks instead at the wide variety of child care arrangements that parents use.
The research titled Cost Quality and Child Outcomes in Child Care Centers, however, note that there was “no proof that child care is good for children.”
“It’s possible that a child’s natural abilities may be eliciting more conversation and stimulation from the caregiver, which will make it look as if the child care setting was contributing to the child’s development,” the study said.
The study conducted by NICHD, which began in 1991, involved 29 researchers, tracking more than 1,300 children from infancy in nine states. It found that child care in the US can be described as adequate.
Among other findings are as follows:
• The average quality of care for 1-3 years old in the United States is adequate with 8 percent of child care arrangements being poor, 53 percent good and 9 percent excellent; and
• Children with more experience in group care have fewer positive interactions with peers at age 2, but they have more positive interactions with peers at age 3.
