The Effects of Child Day Care

Most children in the United States spend part of their time in day care, or in the care of someone other than their mother or father. The effects of day care depend in large part on how much time the child spends there, the quality of the day-care center and providers, and the age of the child.

How Many Hours a Week?

According to the National Institute of Child Health and Development's Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD), also known as the Child Care Study or the Day Care Study, the amount of time a child spends in day care makes a difference in areas such as health and social skills. The study revealed that children who spent 30 or more hours per week in day care were more likely to exhibit behavior problems in kindergarten and in day care than children who spent fewer hours there. The study focused on the children's first four and a half years of life. Children are also 9 percent more likely to experience ear infections and 4 percent more likely to experience stomach upsets if they are in day care for 30 or more hours during the first year of life.
Day care did not, however, have a negative effect on cognitive abilities or language development.
A Danish study yielded similar results: A young child who spends more hours a week in day care is more likely to experience problems than a child who spends less time there.

Quality

As might be expected, children in higher quality day care facilities experience more benefits and fewer negative effects than children in lower quality care. Researchers in the SECCYD study looked at two factors in determining quality of care: regulability and process features.

Regulable Features

The day-care facility factors that can be easily tabulated are called "regulable features." These include adult-to-child ratio (the lower, the better); group size, with smaller groups preferable to large ones; and the education level of the caregivers. The higher the level of education completed by the caregivers, the higher the quality of care, overall.

Process Features

The other attributes looked at in the study are less easily defined. These "process features" boil down to positive care-giving -- which the study defined as "sensitive, encouraging and frequent interactions between the caregiver and the child" -- as well as factors such as positive touch, asking the child questions to encourage him to talk, being in good spirits and smiling.

Age of Child

A report by UNICEF states that day care during the first year of life can be detrimental to a child's well-being, and that babies benefit from one-on-one care. The SECCYD study also noted problems with putting very young children in day care for long hours. The UNICEF study recommends that infants be cared for at home whenever possible.