WITHDRAWN: Day care for pre-school children.

Area of Science:

• Child Development
• Social Policy
• Early Childhood Education

Background:

• Societal debate surrounds early childhood care arrangements, with significant policy and media attention.
• Mothers predominantly provide childcare, but international out-of-home day-care provision varies widely.
• Day-care policies reflect cultural values, economic interests, and societal goals for child welfare and maternal employment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically evaluate the effects of out-of-home day-care on preschool children.
• To assess impacts on educational, health, and welfare outcomes for children and their families.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs.
• Searches conducted via electronic databases, literature reviews, and author contact.
• Eight trials identified and assessed for methodological quality.

Main Results:

• Day-care participation is associated with increased IQ, improved behavioral development, and enhanced school achievement.
• Long-term follow-up indicates higher employment rates, lower teenage pregnancy, improved socioeconomic status, and reduced criminal behavior.
• Positive effects observed for mothers' education, employment, and parent-child interaction; paternal effects were not studied.

Conclusions:

• Out-of-home day-care demonstrates beneficial effects on children's development, academic success, and adult life outcomes.
• Current evidence is primarily from randomized trials involving disadvantaged populations in the USA.
• Generalizability of findings to diverse cultural and socioeconomic groups requires further investigation.