Nowadays many more young children experience non-maternal childcare than
in the past. From a theoretical perspective, the effect this may have on
their cognitive and behavioural development is unclear. This paper uses
data from the UK for a sample of children in the Millennium Cohort
Study, whose mothers were working when they were 9 months old to test
how different forms of childcare at an early age play a role in the
production of cognitive skills and the behavioural development of young
children (measured at age 3). The results show that formal group care is
positively associated with school readiness test scores. But, unlike
previous research, we find no association between formal group care and
problem behaviour. Grandparent care, which has received negative
attention in the past, is shown to be positively associated with
vocabulary test scores, but also positively related to problem
behavioural scores.
Presented by:
Kirstine Hansen (Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS), Inst of Education)
Date & time:
May 12, 2008 3:00 pm - May 11, 2008 11:00 pm
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