Non-maternal Child Care

1. To learn a little about the nature of non-maternal child care in the United States

2. To learn a little about what makes a difference in child outcomes as a function of a child’s non-maternal child care experiences.

3. To understand some of the difficulties in doing research on non-maternal child care.

4. To understand something about the public policy implications of non-maternal child care research.

About non-maternal child care in the United States:

1. Extremely widely utilized (over 90% of all children in the United States are in some form of non-maternal care for 20 hours a week or more by the time they are 3 years of age).

2. There are many varieties of non-maternal care available. Some highly regulated, some not regulated at all. The use of specific types of care vary with age of the child.

3. Regulation of non-maternal childcare is in the domain of the individual states. There are no national standards – although a number of professional societies have published guidelines.

4. The primary reason for using non-maternal care is economic.

Types of Care

(Roughly ranked from formal to informal)

Day Care Centers

Commercial

Church/Community

Employer Owned

Public Financed

Family Day Care

In home of provider, with or without a child of the provider present. Provider not related to child.

In home of provider, with or without a child of the provider present. Provider related to child.

Child’s Home

Father as provider.

Relative as provider.

Domestic employee.

“Informal”

A wide-variety of alternative care arrangements. Often centering around the work place.

Aspects of non-maternal child care

Age of entry

Quality of Care

Distal (regulatibles)

e.g. density, education, safety

Proximal

e.g. interaction of child with provider

Quantity of Care

Stability of Care

Type of Care

Developmental Outcomes

Language

Cognition

Attachment

School Readiness

Mother-child interactions

Self-control

Compliance

Problem behaviors

Note that developmental outcomes are:

1. Multiply determined

2. Time varying

3. Culturally specific

NICHD Study of Early Child Care – Data Collection Sites

Arkansas (Little Rock)

California (Orange County)

Kansas (Lawrence/Kansas City)

New Hampshire (State-wide)

North Carolina (Morganton)

Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)

Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh)

Virginia (Charlottesville)

Washington (Seattle)

Wisconsin (Madison)

Generalized findings:

In general …

Family characteristics

e.g. SES, Parental Education, Family

Structure, Parenting Attitudes and Practices

and

Maternal Style

Warm, nurturing, not “in your face”, supportive parenting

and

Child Characteristics

Gender, health

are stronger predictors of the child’s development than are any (or all) of the child care factors. This finding is true for cognitive, language, and social/behavioral outcomes.

Difficulties in conducting childcare research

Selection bias

Range restrictions

Iatrogenic effects

Cost

Implications to Public Policy

1. The Interventionist Fallacy

2. Scientific versus Community Values

3. Cost/benefit Considerations