NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Findings for Children up to 4 1/2 Years

摘要

In the early 1990s, the majority of children began some non-maternal care by 6 months of age. results from the nicHD Study of early child care and Youth Development show that, in its demographically and ethnically diverse sample of more than 1,000 children, the average child spent 27 hours a week in non-maternal care over the first 4 1/2 years of life. During the childrens first 2 years of life, most child care took place in family homes with relatives or in child care homes; as children got older, more were in center-based care. When it came to understanding how these experiences might influence children, knowing simply whether a child was or was not ever in non-maternal care provided little insight into a childs development. Children who were cared for exclusively by their mothers did not develop differently than those who were also cared for by others. Quality, quantity, and type of non-maternal care were modestly, but not strongly, linked to the childrens development regardless of family features.