More than 14 million kids under age 6 have parents in the workforce, meaning they require some kind of child care. Yet, despite this huge number, it’s still common for parents to feel guilt about sending their children to day care. Moms and dads worry about everything from finding the right day care to how their kids will behave once they get there.
Luckily, research shows that parents have very little reason to fret about how their kids will fare in day care. In fact, for many kids, attending high quality day care programs actually provides a ton of benefits. Here are five proven advantages kids and their families get from attending a quality day care.
1. Day care kids are well-behaved.
When you’re sending toddlers and preschoolers off to day care, you might wonder if they’ll pick up bad behaviors, like hitting or biting, from the stress of adjusting their routine or even from some of the other kids. The latest research shows this isn’t the case.
A recent analysis of data from five different countries found that there’s actually no association between daycare attendance and behavior problems. In fact, one French study actually found that kids ages 3 and up who attend a daycare center exhibit fewer behavioral issues and gain positive skills, like learning how to make friends and developing better social skills. Past research has even found that kids as young as 5 years old who attend day care demonstrate the ability to be more patient and adjust their communication style to meet the needs of different aged playmates.
When care is “consistent, developmentally appropriate, and emotionally supportive, and the environment is healthy and safe,” there is a positive effect on kids’ cognitive development.
— PEDIATRICS
2. Day care helps with cognitive development.
Young kids are learning constantly, and there’s evidence that the structured nature of day care and the educational exposure they get each day they attend can aid in their healthy development.
According to one study published in the journal Pediatrics, when care is “consistent, developmentally appropriate, and emotionally supportive, and the environment is healthy and safe,” there is a positive effect on kids’ cognitive development. Skills they learn in day care can help with important childhood tasks like:
- Regulating emotions.
- Solving problems.
- Expressing feelings.
3. Day care contributes to academic readiness.
Several studies have shown the positive impact structured daycare and preschool programs can have on learning and school readiness.
One 2016 study shows that by age 5, children who attend formal childcare programs demonstrate stronger reading and math skills than their peers. A separate study of kids in Oklahoma suggests these benefits can persist even into middle school.
The positive academic effects of day care attendance may even go further than that. One study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) finds that attending a high quality child care is correlated with higher academic grades and admission to more selective colleges.
4. Kids get health benefits from going to day care.
Child care isn’t directly designed to improve kids’ physical health, but a growing body of research suggests that it’s having a positive impact. Kids who attend day care before the age of 18 months have a lower risk of asthma by age 7, according to one study.
Attendance in early childhood education programs, specifically, is also linked to improvements in the number of kids receiving routine immunizations. Though there are some exemptions allowed, all 50 states require routine immunizations in order to attend day care. And, while kids are likely to get sick at day care, experts say exposure to certain pathogens earlier in life can actually be beneficial. One Dutch study, for example, found that kids who attended day care and contracted acute gastroenteritis (a common stomach bug) before age 1 were less likely to get it later on.
5. Day care is good for moms, too.
At the end of the day, parents need high quality day care to be available so they can succeed in their careers and take care of other responsibilities. When women, especially, have access to high quality child care, it strengthens their participation in the workforce and majorly boosts their earnings potential.
A report by the National Women’s Law Center shows that expanding access to affordable, high quality child care would increase the number of women with young children working full-time by about 17%. Over the course of a lifetime, access to affordable care can also increase the lifetime earnings for women with two kids by about $94,000. Those with less education and lower incomes, particularly if they are Black or Latino, would see the biggest percentage increases in income.
Past research by the Harvard Business School has shown that girls raised in households with working moms are more likely to hold supervisory positions later in life and earn higher wages, and boys raised in these households tend to contribute more to caregiving and household duties as adults. Day care is a major factor in many women’s careers, and the data suggests that finding the right day care for your child can have a positive impact on the whole family.
