Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Sep 1;28(5-6):411-426.
doi: 10.1016/j.appdev.2007.06.010.

Quality Child Care Supports the Achievement of Low-Income Children: Direct and Indirect Pathways Through Caregiving and the Home Environment

Kathleen McCartney  1 , Eric Dearing, Beck A Taylor, Kristen L Bub
Affiliations

Quality Child Care Supports the Achievement of Low-Income Children: Direct and Indirect Pathways Through Caregiving and the Home Environment

Kathleen McCartney et al. J Appl Dev Psychol. .

Abstract

Existing studies of child care have not been able to determine whether higher quality child care protects children from the effects of poverty, whether poverty and lower quality child care operate as dual risk factors, or whether both are true. The objective of the current study was to test two pathways through which child care may serve as a naturally occurring intervention for low-income children: a direct pathway through child care quality to child outcomes, and an indirect pathway through improvements in the home environment. Children were observed in their homes and child care settings at 6, 15, 24, and 36 months. An interaction between family income-to-needs ratio and child care quality predicted School Readiness, Receptive Language, and Expressive Language, as well as improvements in the home environment. Children from low-income families profited from observed learning supports in the form of sensitive care and stimulation of cognitive development, and their parents profited from unobserved informal and formal parent supports. Policy implications are discussed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Estimated associations between income-to-needs and School Readiness for the three child care groups. The slope of this association was significantly different (p < .01) for children in higher quality child care compared with children not in child care (see Table 3). The vertical line represents the upper threshold for the region of significant difference in School Readiness scores for children in higher quality child care compared with those not in child care.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Estimated associations between income-to-needs and Receptive Language for the three child care groups. The slope of this association was significantly different (p < .05) for children in higher quality child care compared with children not in child care, as well as for children in lower quality child care compared with children not in child care (see Table 3). The vertical line represents the upper threshold for the region of significant difference in Receptive Language scores for children in higher quality child care compared with those not in child care.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Estimated associations between income-to-needs and Expressive Language for the three child care groups. The slope of this association was significantly different (p < .05) for children in higher quality child care compared with children not in child care, as well as for children in lower quality child care compared with children not in child care (see Table 3). The vertical line represents the upper threshold for the region of significant difference in Expressive Language scores for children in higher quality child care compared with those not in child care.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Estimated associations between income-to-needs and HOME for the three child care groups. The slope of this association was significantly different for children in higher quality child care compared with those not in child care.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Barnett WS. Long-term effects on cognitive development and school success. In: Barnett WS, Boocock SS, editors. Early care and education for children in poverty: Promises, programs, and long-term results. Albany: State University of New York; 1998. pp. 11–44.
    1. Benasich AA, Brooks-Gunn J, Clewell BC. How do mothers benefit from early intervention programs? Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. 1992;13:311–362.
    1. Blau DM. The child care problem: An economic analysis. New York: Russell Sage Foundation; 2001.
    1. Bolger KE, Scarr S. Not so far from home: How family characteristics predict child care quality. University of Virginia; Charlottesville: 1995. Unpublished manuscript.
    1. Bornstein MH, Bradley RH. Socioeconomic status, parenting, and child development. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum; 2003.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources