What We Know about Childcare [Hardcover]

Nearly three-quarters of American mothers work full- or part-time--usually out of financial necessity--and require regular child care. How do such arrangements affect children? If they are not at home with their mothers, will they be badly behaved, intellectually delayed, or emotionally stunted?

Backed by the best current research, Alison Clarke-Stewart and Virginia Allhusen bring a reassuring answer to parents' fears and offer guidance for making difficult decisions. Quality child care, they show, may be even more beneficial to children than staying at home. Although children who spend many hours in care may be unruly compared with children at home, those who attend quality programs tend to be cognitively ahead of their peers. They are just as attached to their mothers and reap the additional benefits of engaging with other children.

Ultimately, it's parents who matter most; what happens at home makes the difference in how children develop. And today's working mothers actually spend more time interacting with their children than stay-at-home mothers did a generation ago.

What We Know About Childcare...offers an exhaustive, evenhanded account of what the latest research proves--and what it disproves--about childcare's impact on children.Clarke-Stewart and Allhusen have amassed wonderful data and detailed descriptions of the social, psychological and political issues that continue to surround childcare in the U.S. in this new millennium. Engaging such a broad audience in these issues is a difficult, but worthy task. Their effort certainly deserves much praise.Quality childcare, the authors show, may be more beneficial to children than staying home. Although children who spend many hours in care may be more unruly than children at home, those who attend quality programs tend to be cognitively ahead of their peers. They are just as attached to their mothers and benefit from engaging with other children.