Safe, stimulating, and blessed by the U.K. government, nurseries have become the choice of new parents struggling to balance work and child raising. Rapid demographic and socio-economic changes in the past decade have expanded the labor market for women. As a result, private day care centers have quadrupled in Britain, transforming the early years of millions of children. Despite the fact that the U.K. has 450,000 children under three in nurseries, recent unsettling research in Britain, the U.S., and elsewhere suggests that the toddlers who are cared for by their mothers develop better than those cared for in nurseries or by relatives or child minders.1 The more time toddlers spend in non-maternal care, the more inclined they are toward insecurity, aggressiveness, and disobedience.2

Much of the American research, carried out in the early 1990s, highlighted the primarily poor standard of care. For example, a large scale study showed that “. . . only one in seven [day cares] . . . promotes healthy development and learning. . .”3 These findings were consonant with those of a Carnegie task force, which found that “much (non-parental) child care for infants and toddlers is of substandard quality, whether it is provided by centres, family child care homes or relatives . . .”4

One of the longest and most detailed studies of childcare in the U.K., by Oxford University and the University of London, looked at approximately 1,200 children from birth till age four.5 Half the children were cared for full-time by their mothers, a third had mothers who returned to work after seven months, and 8% had a mother who went back to work after three months.6

The babies were seen at three, ten, and eighteen months, and again at three years and just over four years. They were given a series of developmental tests wherein experts studied their level of eye-contact with adults. Children cared for by stay-at-home mothers did best, followed by those with nannies and child minders in a home setting. Next came grandparents and other relatives. Those who were sent to nurseries fared the worst. National Childminding Association president, Dr. Penelope Leach observed, “It does look as if group care before 18 months is not ideal.”7 Indeed, the study found that young children in nursery day care tended to show higher levels of aggression and were inclined to become withdrawn, compliant, or sad.8

Nursery leaders were quick to defend their reputation. Purnima Tanuku, the National Day Nurseries’ Association chief executive, said: “Day nurseries provide an ideal environment for the care and education of children up to the age of five. And 78 per cent of working mothers say a nursery is their ‘ideal childcare.’”9 Of course, the researchers were keen to stress that the study did not suggest “that every child in a large nursery will become a monster”10 or that all young children do well at home, especially if their mothers suffer from depression or have other priorities than motherhood. In particular, Dr. Leach went out of her way to insist that she was not calling for mothers to stay at home and give up work. Instead, she argued that the findings highlighted the need for “developmentally appropriate high quality childcare.”11

The study challenges the Western desire to rush mothers back into the workplace and the U.K. government’s enthusiasm for “wraparound educare,” where the children are sent to school from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.12 Dr. Leach asks more than she knows when she says: “In terms of the happiness and wellbeing of our children, we are at a crossroads . . . Are we going to achieve the highest quality care from the most appropriate person for the child?”13 The study has, of course, revealed who that person is, all things being equal. Yes, the doctor’s caveats are worth noting, since there is an exception to every rule. But tragically, with childcare, the exception is now the rule; nurseries have become the norm against all the evidence suggesting that a mother’s care is best.

Footnotes:

1 Yvonne Roberts, “Official: Babies Do Best with Mother,” The Observer, October 2, 2005, http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1583072,00.html, (January 31, 2006).

2 Jay Belsky, “The Dangers of Day Care,” The Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2003. 3 Cited in Penelope Leach, et al, “Families, Children, and Childcare,” Families, Children, and Childcare Project, October 3, 2005,

3. The full report can be viewed at http://www.family-men.com/WEB%20DOCUMENTS/fccc_protocol.pdf (accessed January 31, 2006).

4 Cited in Leach, et al, Ibid., 3.

5 Penelope Leach, et al, Ibid., see 11-13 for details of method, research questions, and samples.

6 Alison Holt, “Mother’s Care ‘Best’ for Children,” BBC News Website, October 3, 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4304528.stm (accessed January 31, 2006).

7 Ibid, the quote is contained in a linked video clip.

8 Ibid.

9 Roberts, Ibid. 10 Holt, Ibid. 11 Ibid. 12 “Governor News,” National Association of School Governors Website, November 4, 2004, http://www.nagm.org.uk/govern-nov04.html (accessed January 31, 2006). 13 Roberts, Ibid.

from Kairos Journal