A view from a couch Childcare during a recession: what effect do nurseries have?

The recession has affected work and childcare in many homes. For some, it has become more economical for one parent to stay home. For others, two fulltime working parents have become a necessity. With children attending nursery and kindergarten earlier and earlier, many parents are asking what effect it has. And with all the myriad of options, what should parents look for in good childcare? Experts define the quality of childcare across three tiers: the child-adult relationship, structural features of care and the ability to comply with national and international policy. The aspect of care which has the largest effect on child well-being is the relationship between the adult care-provider and the child. Key things to look for are ample verbal and cognitive stimulation, adults who are sensitive and responsive to the child and who can give the child generous amounts attention and support. When looking at the structural features of childcare, several features are important to good child outcomes: (a) the experience of the caregivers (not just the management) (b) the total numbers of children in the setting and (c) the ratio of children to adults. In general, research supports higher levels of experience, smaller total number of children and higher ratios of children to adults. Job stability in this area is rare. In the past, childcare was an area which exploited the black economy, systematically under-payed staff and hired those with the least personal resources to do stressful highly skilled jobs. The brutal treatment of people with learning disabilities recently highlighted by Panorama shows what can happen when the wrong people are hired to do taxing jobs. This is both a personal and political issue. As parents, staff retention and fair wages are key areas to ask about. The final tier of quality consists of the policy environment. Children who attend nurseries that meet recommended standards (e.g., ratios, group size, provider education) have higher cognitive and language test scores. The ability of a nursery to meet national and international standards is an important marker of well-run organisation. One of the oldest questions about childcare is whether the childs development might be effected by spending time away from the parent. The evidence on this matter is clear. Outcomes do not differ between children in extensive childcare and those with little or no exposure to childcare. The evidence is similarly consistent about many mums worry that time spent apart from their child might interfere with mother-child attachment. There is no significant, direct effect of child care experience on childrens attachment at either 15 or 36 months. Regardless of early care experience, maternal sensitivity is the strongest predictor of preschool attachment.

Good luck with tricky job of finding somewhere affordable and suitable for your little one. But dont worry, children are robust and capable of great adaptation. They may be better able to say goodbye than you are.
For a review of all the data used in this article read Deborah Phillips and Amy Lowensteins Early care, education and child development in the Annual Review of Psychology , 2011