Creches ‘do not impede progress of kids’ according to study
The survey of 9,000 children found no overall difference in vocabulary and reasoning abilities at age five between those cared for at home and those cared for outside the home, either by grandparents, childminders, or in a creche from the age of three.
It found that starting childcare as early as nine months had no effect on children’s cognitive (language and reasoning) outcomes at age five.
However, long hours of care (30 hours or more per week) were associated with a small negative effect on vocabulary at age three, regardless of the type of childcare. Reasoning abilities did not appear to be affected by hours of care.
The report did not take into account differences in the quality of childcare arrangements and could not rule out the possibility that high quality care had a beneficial effect while poor quality childcare had a negative effect.
The latest report from the Growing Up in Ireland series found the main influences on children’s cognitive outcomes at at five are:
- The child’s gender;
- Language spoken at home;
- Number of older siblings;
- Parents’ education;
- Parenting practices and home learning environment.
There is a strong demand for childcare from parents — half of the study participants were using regular childcare when the child turned three.
One of the report’s authors, Dr Helen Russell from the ESRI, said the first five years of life are of critical importance in children’s cognitive development.
“This study highlights that, when tested at age five, children who attended childcare at age three did as well as those cared for solely by their parents,” Dr Russell said. “A key issue for the future is evaluating the quality of care received in different settings.”
The study found that children who did not have English as a first language at age three in 2011 benefited from attending childcare — this was based on vocabulary scores at age five in 2013.
By age five, almost all of the children in the study (96%) had participated in pre-school education through the free pre-school year.
Just 27% of the children were attending childcare at age three, showing that the scheme increased access considerably.
More than one in five (22%) parents said they would not have been able to afford to send their child to pre-school without the free pre-school year.
More than a third (36%) in the lowest income group said they could not afford to send their child to pre-school without the free year; 38% of parents with a low education expressed the same opinion.
James Reilly, the children’s minister, said the study showed that children who benefited most from the free pre-school year were from a disadvantaged background.
Laura Haugh from mummypages.ie said she was disappointed the report was very limited when it looked at how childcare arrangements influenced children — there was no mention of the effect on the child’s emotional development or behaviour.
“We want to have children aged 0 to 12 months cared for in the home by either of their parents by extending maternity and paternity cover so there is 12 months that can be shared between a mother and father. In that way, we can develop a more inclusive society where both parents can be seen as care givers,” said Ms Haugh.
“But this report does not help by saying that, well, actually, it makes no difference if they are looked after within a childcare setting or by their parents. We really need to know how secure children feel within themselves.”
Ms Haugh said she was pleased with the free pre-school year. “It is helping children to develop good social and behavioural skills as well as early academic skills like motor and language development.”
News: 6
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
