Structural and process features in three types of child care for children from high and low income families

Abstract

We use observations from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) to compare structural and process characteristics of child care centers, family child care homes (nonrelative care in a home setting) and care by relatives for 2, 3-and 4 ½-year-old children. Type of care differences in structural and caregiver characteristics were consistent across ages: centers had higher child-to-adult ratios and bigger groups; centers had caregivers with better education, more training in early childhood, and less traditional beliefs about child rearing. Children in centers experienced more cognitive stimulation, less frequent language interactions with adults, less frequent negative interactions with adults, and less television viewing than did those in other types of care. In centers and family child care homes compared to relative settings, children engaged in more positive and negative interactions with peers and spent more time in transition and unoccupied. Curvilinear associations were found between structural features of care and family income, particularly for caregiver education and training. In contrast, process measures of caregiving rose monotonically with family income. Children from high-income families experienced more sensitive care, more cognitive stimulation, and fewer negative interactions with adults than did those from low-income families. We interpret the findings by linking the structural features and caregiver training to the cognitive and social processes observed in different types of care. Future research designed to understand the influences of child care on children's behavior might benefit from using this more nuanced description of child care experiences.Child care quality is a well-documented predictor of children's intellectual and social development, but recent evidence indicates that type of care may be important independently of "global" ratings of quality. A recurrent finding in the literature is that children who participate in center-based arrangements-including Head Start-during their infant and preschool years perform better on cognitive and language development and show better preacademic skills than children who spend an equivalent amount of time in child care homes or relative care of comparable quality (Garces, Thomas, & Currie, 2002; NICHD Early Child Care Research Network [ECCRN], 2000a; NICHD ECCRN & Duncan, 2003).The relations of type of care to children's social behavior are more uncertain. Two longitudinal studies of large, national samples have shown that children with more center care experience were rated by caregivers and elementary school teachers as having more behavior problems and less self control than those who had not experienced center care (Magnuson, Ruhm, & Waldfogel, 2007; NICHD 2002;2003a). Most longitudinal investigations of children from Contact author Chantelle Dowsett, Human Development & Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station/A2700, Austin, TX 78712; 512-471-3141; E-mail: dowsettcj@mail.utexa...

Family income, parent education, and perceived constraints as predictors of observed program quality and parent rated program quality

“…These results document continuing inequity in access to quality of care for low-income children, in this study defined as those living in families between 100% and 200% of the FPL. These results are consistent with other studies documenting a "U" shaped curve in the associations between family income and child care quality, with the caveat that previous studies have variously defined low, middle, and higher-income families (e.g., Dowsett et al, 2008;NICHD ECCRN, 2000;Phillips et al, 1994).…”

“…Phillips et al (1994) reported that teachers in community-based centers serving predominantly low-income children were more detached and harsh and less sensitive than teachers in centers serving poorer or more-affluent children, and that quality of care in centers serving upper-income children was the most consistently positive in terms of caregiving and developmentally appropriate activities. Dowsett, Huston, Imes, and Gennetian (2008) reported a curvilinear association between family income and structural quality in center-based programs, but a linear association between family income and process quality. Programs serving primarily low-income children tend to employ teachers with less education and compensate them more poorly than programs serving middle-and upper-income children, and structural indicators of quality are significantly better in programs serving upper-income children (Marshall et al, 2003;Sachs, 2000).…”

Closing the gap in academic readiness and achievement: the role of early childcare

“…For example, it was shown in the NICHD SECCYD that caretakers in informal relative settings were generally less educated and offered lower levels of stimulation than ones in formal childcare (Dowsett, Huston, Imes, & Gennetian, 2008). Whereas we have no information on levels of quality in informal childcare for the QLSCD, the quality of formal childcare (that is, non-relative center-based and non-relative out-of-home) in Quebec, Canada has been rated as moderate (Japel, Côté, & Tremblay, 2005), and similar to that of several other industrialized countries (i.e., United States, Germany, Portugal, and Spain) (Egeland & Hiester, 1995).…”

Child care subsidies and child development

“…Studies comparing child care use across income groups find inconsistent differences in the quality of center-based care, with some research pointing to higher quality among low-income children (NICHD, 1997;Phillips et al, 1994) and others finding lower quality (Loeb et al, 2004;Marshall et al, 2001). Research by Dowsett et al (2008) finds that structural measures of child care quality are about equal for low-and high-income children, but that poor children experience lower quality care across several process-oriented measures, including negative adult interactions and cognitive stimulation. The quality of family-based and relative care, however, is more consistently of lower quality among low-income children (Coley et al, 2001;Dowsett et al, 2008;Votruba-Drzal et al, 2004).…”

“…Research by Dowsett et al (2008) finds that structural measures of child care quality are about equal for low-and high-income children, but that poor children experience lower quality care across several process-oriented measures, including negative adult interactions and cognitive stimulation. The quality of family-based and relative care, however, is more consistently of lower quality among low-income children (Coley et al, 2001;Dowsett et al, 2008;Votruba-Drzal et al, 2004).…”