Research on the consequences of early childcare for children's development can seem confusing, if not contradictory. On the one hand, high-quality childcare is associated with good learning and achievement outcomes. On the other hand, as little as 20 to 30 hours a week of childcare has been associated with problem behaviours such as aggression. Are we to believe, therefore, that early childcare leads children to grow up smart, but unkind?
The short answer is no: while evidence continues to mount regarding the learning benefits of quality childcare, especially for socially disadvantaged children, recent evidence gives good reason to be sceptical of the notion that childcare causes problem behaviours. In a series of studies in Norway, we are finding that giving attention to children outside of the US and being careful to disentangle what childcare truly causes from what it is correlated with is helping to clarify this point.
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