A lot has been researched and written on the effects of daycare on children. While some studies have focused on the beneficial effects of institutionalized childcare, others have also revealed its more problematic aspects. This article sums up the pros and cons of (early) childcare.
Benefits of Daycare
Here are some of the ways a child might benefit from being in a childcare institution.
- Structure and rhythm: The day in childcare institutions usually follows a certain pattern, providing structure and rhythm to the child.
- Socialization – social skills: Children in daycare centers and kindergartens may benefit from the contact with other children, especially if they have no siblings or playmates at home.
- Professional caregivers: Childcare workers and preschool teachers usually have extensive and wide-ranged experience with children and are therefore likely to be skilful educators, which in turn may support a child’s social skills and self-esteem. (However, the best expert for your own child will always be you!)
- Stimulating environment: Good daycare institutions offer an environment that stimulates creative play, awakens curiosity and motivates movement.
- Cognitive development: Long hours in group childcare have been linked to better reading and math skills. However, these effects are only short to medium-term and mainly occur for children from lower socio-economic backgrounds. And if center-based care is introduced during infancy (0-18 months), cognitive development is actually affected negatively.
- Child safety: Children in daycare centers have far fewer fatal accidents than stay at home children.
- Parent contentment: Daycare may contribute to parents’ happiness by giving them a break from the strenuous 24 hour job of raising children – and this in turn will be good for the children.
Disadvantages of Childcare
The more problematic aspects of center-based childcare are as follows.
- Stress levels: Several studies have shown that children spending a lot of hours in childcare institutions have higher stress levels, leading to heightened aggression, unruly behavior and lack of empathy. Long term effects include anxiety, relationship problems and lower resilience to stress. Especially very small and highly sensitive children suffer from separation anxiety, over-stimulation and exhaustion.
- Parent-child relationship: Kids in daycare may not spend sufficient time with their parents in order to bond properly with them. This not only negatively affects the parent-child relationship but also the children’s general ability to form strong, warm and loving relationships later on in life. Children’s overall development and confidence may also suffer.
- Too little meaningful activity: Some daycare centers don’t offer enough meaningful real-life activities such as shared cooking, cleaning, simple crafts or games. Instead, children are given artificial activities to do such as meaningless glue and paper handicrafts or are entertained by multi-media.
- Too much focus on intellectual development: Children under the age of five or six years can learn all the necessary intellectual skills through play and meaningful activities such as setting the table, (finger) games and so on. There is no convincing evidence for any lasting benefit of introducing intellectual learning at a very early age.
- Illness: Children in childcare facilities get sick more often.
Conclusion
The benefits and disadvantages of center-based daycare seem to be pretty balanced and a lot will depend on the quality of the respective daycare center – and even more on the quality of the parenting at home. As a general rule, however, one might say that for most children under three, the ideal setting will be mainly home-based childcare with a loving parent or close relative who enjoy looking after the child. Children from three years onward seem to benefit most clearly from (part time) daycare in a good center.
Sources and Related Reading
- Kids with depressed moms do better in day care. Article by Linda Carroll on msnbc.com.
- Effects of early child-care on cognition, language, and task-related behaviours at 18 months: An English study. A study by Sylva, Stein, Leach and others. Wiley Online Library.
- Expert Guidance on Child Care: What's Best by Age. Suite101-article by Martin Bohn.
- The Negative Effects of Daycare on Small Children. Suite101-article by Martin Bohn.
- The Benefits of Center Based Childcare. Suite101-article by Martin Bohn.
Martin Bohn - As a certified yoga teacher, I enjoy freelancing for various yoga magazines in different countries. In my main profession, I work as a ...
