Concerns about young children spending too long in childcare appear unfounded.
Older pre-school children were more likely to receive
non-parental childcare. This was usually either a centre-based
early-years providers (like a nursery or play group) or by family
and friends - or a combination of the two.
On the whole children went to only one or two childcare providers
in a week, and for just a moderate abount of time (approximately 20
hours a week).
Media concerns about young children being 'ferried from pillar to
post' and spending long periods of time in childcare appear
unfounded.
Back to topChildcare can mean more - or fewer - learning activities are done at home.
The report found that childcare can have positive effects.
For instance, 2-year olds who attended 20-30 hours of centre-based
early-years education did more learning activities at home with
their parents than children who were looked after solely by their
parents.
However, the reverse was true for 2-year olds that attended more
than 30 hours of centre-based early years education. They did fewer
learning activities than those looked after solely by their
parents.
Back to topThe older children get, the less non-parental childcare they get
For school age children, the need for non-parental
childcare seemed lower than for pre-school children and even the
use of out-of-school activities was quite uncommon.
Among children aged 5-11, 49% were just looked after by their
parents, and among 12-14 year olds 65% were just looked after by
their parents.
This may be because some research suggests that parents with 12-14
year olds believe that their children are old enough to look after
themselves. However, other research says that schools can find it
difficult to get teenagers interested in out-of-school
activities.
Since these have been shown to be good for children's development,
our findings suggest that schools should continue trying to provide
interesting activities and encourage older children to
participate.
Back to topMost children under 1 only receive parental childcare.
Some research has raised concerns about potentially
negative effects of non-parental childcare on very young
children.
However, few children aged under one received non-parental
childcare. When they did, they were typically looked after by their
grandparents for a short length of time (six hours a week).
Childcare for children aged under 1:
• Parents only: 57%
• Family and friends: 24%
• Other: 19%
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