CHOOSING-CHILDCARE-SAMPLE-v1a
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Returning to work or study<br />
care. What matters most is not the type of care, but its quality.<br />
• Spending time in group daycare seems to have a slightly beneficial<br />
impact on very young children’s language and social skills and<br />
cognitive development by the time they reach school age. It also<br />
seems to have a slightly negative impact on their behaviour and<br />
emotional development, particularly if children are in centre-based<br />
daycare from a very young age. Positive effects are seen equally in<br />
children in part-time and full-time childcare. Negative effects tend<br />
to be more pronounced in those who spend a lot of time in daycare<br />
(over 30 or 35 hours a week, according to some studies).<br />
• High quality childcare and early education are certainly good for children<br />
over the age of three, helping to develop social, communication<br />
and academic skills, and eventually easing the transition to school.<br />
• Quality childcare is also undoubtedly beneficial to young children<br />
of all ages who have deprived or troubled home lives.<br />
• Several international studies have found that babies and children<br />
in group childcare experience raised levels of cortisol (often called<br />
the ‘stress hormone’), and different patterns of cortisol production,<br />
compared with their counterparts cared for by parents at home. The<br />
effect seems to be most pronounced for very young children who<br />
spend long periods in large, busy group settings that provide poor<br />
quality care. Some experts have expressed concern about the effect<br />
this might have on youngsters' behaviour and brain development;<br />
others say it's a normal response and may promote children's<br />
resilience in the long term. The truth is that there is much we still<br />
don't understand and more research is needed.<br />
• When mothers want to work, and have access to reliable, affordable,<br />
good quality childcare to enable them to do so, they benefit financially,<br />
socially and psychologically – which advantages their children too.<br />
If you’re interested in finding out more about the impact of childcare on<br />
young children’s development, you might want to read:<br />
Child Care Today: What we know and what we need to know<br />
by Dr Penelope Leach (Polity Press, 2009)<br />
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