06/03
Abstract
Child Care
During the First Three Years of Life
Prepared by: Elaine Wilson
Parenting
Specialist, Cooperative Extension
104
HES,
(405)
744-7186
Brooks-Gunn, J.; Wen-Jui, H.; & J. Waldfogel. (2002, July/August). Maternal employment and child cognitive
outcomes in the first three years of life: The NICHD study of early child
care. Child Development, 73:4.
Implications
for Cooperative Extension. Besides the
personal implications for extension professionals who are parents of young
children, this study has implications of our clients, especially those going
from welfare to work and the child care providers we serve as educators. These findings suggest that placing infants
and toddlers in child care and sending their mothers to work may not keep the
next generation off of welfare. Unless
the child care is of very high quality and the home environment is greatly
improved, these children may actually loose capability to succeed in school and
to join the work force as adults. These
findings also have important public policy implications, especially as Welfare
Reform legislation is under revision and the current administration suggests
longer working hours for welfare dependent families. Parent education that improves relationships,
attitudes and environments is a low cost preventative to the outcomes of
maternal employment when children are nine months of age or younger.
New findings from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care
indicate that children whose mothers are working full time by the child's ninth
month have lower cognitive development scores at age three than children of
non-working mothers, but that good home environments and high quality child
care can help counterbalance these effects.
The specific findings of the study include:
-- Children whose mothers were working full time (30 hours
or more per week) by the child's ninth month scored 6.5 percentile points lower
on a test of cognitive development at age three than children whose mothers
were not working.
-- Children scored right at the average-the 50th
percentile-even though their mothers were working if their home environment and
mothers' sensitivity rated highly and they were in above average care.
-- Home environment and child care quality can combine to
have a greater impact on children's cognitive development than on whether their
mother is working. For example, at age
three, a child whose mother is not working but who has a poor home environment,
a less sensitive mother, and child care of below average quality scored 7
points below the average.
-- Children whose mothers had worked part time by the ninth
month had scores that were not significantly different from children whose
mothers had not worked at all by that point in time.
-- While significant differences in test scores at age
three were found for children whose mothers worked by the ninth month, children
whose mothers were working by the sixth month had only marginally lower scores
than children of non-working mothers, and children whose mothers were working
by the first, third, or twelfth month scored slightly lower, but the difference
was not significant.
-- Mothers' work had a larger effect for boys. Boys whose mothers worked full time by the ninth month scored 9 points lower on cognitive development tests at age three, while girls scored only 3 points lower-which was not significantly different from the average.
-- Children of working mothers scored lower at age three if
their mothers were married at the time of the child's birth (7.5 points lower
than children of non-working mothers).
However, children with working mothers who were not married at the time
of the child's birth actually scored higher (although the difference was not
significantly significant). This may
indicate that the benefits of employment for single mothers, such as higher
income, may outweigh any potential negative impact.
The study has several important implications for
policymakers:
-- Children need high quality child care that promotes
their healthy growth and development.
This requires significant investments in enhancing the quality of care
and in helping ensure all parents-including low-income parents-have the
resources to afford good quality care.
-- Parents need the flexibility to make decisions about
working that are best for their families.
This requires paid leave that makes it economically feasible to take
time off to care for their very young children as well as options such as
part-time work or flex schedules that make it easier to balance work and
family.
-- Parents-both those who are working and those who are
not-need access to supports to help them provide a high quality home
environment for their children.