The Parent Report
Can the quality of childcare at an early age have long-term effects on your kids?
Podcast
Kids who attend the best day care programs have fewer behavioral problems and higher academic achievement when they become teens, according to a government-funded study.
Study author Deborah Lowe Vandell at the University of California Irvine says more than 1,300 children were studied and significant differences were found.
The study is the first to document the long-term effects of routine, non-relative care in a large sample of kids from economically diverse backgrounds. Vandell says the study found the quality of childcare does make a difference more than a decade after the children have transitioned from childcare to elementary school.
The study was published in the journal Child Development.
