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American child care today

¹Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, USA. sandrascar@aol.com

The American Psychologist

|March 10, 1998

Summary

Affordable, regulated child care supports maternal employment and gender equality. While quality care is crucial for child development, parental influence remains paramount, suggesting scalable, affordable options are feasible.

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Area of Science:

Child Development
Social Policy
Economics

Background:

Child care serves dual roles: facilitating maternal employment and supporting children's development.
These objectives present a conflict, as maternal employment prioritizes quantity and affordability, while child development emphasizes high-quality, often costly, services.

Observation:

Welfare reforms necessitate increased child care availability to support parental workforce participation.
Stricter regulations enhance care quality and child well-being but escalate costs, potentially limiting access to licensed care for working families.
The impact of varying child care quality on children's development is often minimal, with limited long-term effects, except for at-risk disadvantaged children.

Findings:

Parental genetic and environmental contributions significantly influence child development, often exceeding child care's impact.
Affordable and regulated child care can be expanded without compromising developmental outcomes, particularly when considering the strong role of home environments.

Implications:

Policy decisions must balance the need for accessible, affordable child care for maternal employment with ensuring child well-being.
Future child care policies could focus on increasing quantity and affordability while maintaining essential quality standards, recognizing the primary role of parents in child development.

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