Lack of early child care effects on school-age children's social competence and academic achievement

Teacher ratings of social competence and academic achievement were obtained from a sample of 127 Bermudian children at ages 5, 6, 7 and 8 years. The children were studied first during their pre-school years, when they had been exposed to various amounts and qualities of day care. Quality of care was found to be important to the children's intellectual and social development while they were in the day care settings but not after 1-4 years of primary schooling. In hierarchical and simultaneous regressions, family background characteristics, not child care amounts or qualities, were found to be predictive of social competence and academic achievement in the primary grades. By school age, the effects of infant and preschool child care experiences were no longer influential in children's development, but family background continued to be important. These findings and their implications for child care are discussed.