Child Care: Research Can Inform the Development of Public Policy

Scarr, S. (1998). American child care today. American Psychologist, 53, 95-108.

Overview:

The Child Care Debate

Any situation in which a child is cared for by someone other than the mother is referred to as day care, child care, babysitting, after-school care, etc. Child care has traditionally served three purposes: (a) child care allows mothers to work outside of the home, (b) child care can provide high quality developmental experiences, and (c) child care can provide health, education, and behavioral training services to economically disadvantaged, immigrant, and/or at-risk children.

Child care is hotly debated. Are the many children in child care (surveys indicate that at least 60% of children in the United States experience some form of non-maternal care) receiving the best developmental experiences? Is child care worth the expense? Sandra Scarr, a leading researcher in child care, reviews research that addresses these issues and argues for a strong public policy on child care.

Article Summary

In her thorough review, Scarr (1998) examines child care from the perspectives of the labor force, child development research, and public policy.

Child care is essential for working mothers. Scarr cites one study showing that, in 1995, almost two-thirds of American mothers with children under the age of six were employed. But income generated by maternal employment is offset by child-care costs. Quality child care cost a lot of money and low income families simply cannot afford the same quality of child care that higher income families can. Another issue is ease of access; child care must be accessible as well as affordable. Finally, child care must be secure. When child care arrangements break down, productivity in the labor force declines.

Although many studies have been conducted, developmental researchers have been unable to determine whether child care is harmful or beneficial to child development. Certainly children from disadvantaged or impoverished environments have benefited from child care. But recent research, examining quality of child care, family characteristics (such as income, education, race, attitudes, stress), and child characteristics (such as age, gender, previous child-care experiences) indicates that child care does not have much of an impact -- positive or negative -- on children from relatively ordinary homes.

According to Scarr, a two-tier system of child care is evolving in the United States. High quality but expensive child care is available for higher income families and for disadvantaged families (who receive public support). Less expensive and lower quality child care is the only option available to middle and lower income families. Scarr uses this argument to stress the need for public policy on child care. She calls on governments to be responsible for making child care affordable and ensuring that all children receive high quality developmental experiences.

For Instructors

Links to the Lecture

This is a good topic for a discussion of research issues. These studies are all correlational and they are generally funded by people with a vested interest in the outcome. How far can results from these studies be generalized? Can cause and effect statements be made?

These are all slightly older videos but the issues are still very relevant:

• Infant Day Care Update (1987, University of Wisconsin, 11 min) provides an excellent starting point for a discussion of psychological, developmental, and research issues in child care.
• Problems of Working Women (1988, Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 24 min). Discusses problems with inadequate care, low salaries for women.
• Babies and child care (1986, National Association for the Education of Young Children, 47 min). Child development specialist discusses the needs of infants in child care settings.

For Students

About the Authors

Sandra Scarr is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia and the C.E.O. of KinderCare, the largest preschool and child care company in the United States.

About the Journal

This article came from a special issue of the American Psychologist on the applications of developmental science to a number of socially relevant issues, including topics such as child care, child abuse, and adolescent pregnancy. Check out the summary of another article from this same issue by Bruck, Ceci, and Hembrooke (1998) dealing with the reliability and credibility of young childrenÕs testimony.

Links to Life

Check out this wealth of resources on child care and school-aged child care developed by the National Network for Child Care.

Here are a series of reviewed reports on child care posted by the National Child Care Information Center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. You can access full-length reports on research and policy related to questions about the economics and benefits of child care.