Is the Link Between Day Care and Misbehavior Overstated?

Whether center-based child care affects kids’ misbehavior is a long-running controversy, both in the academic literature and in the “Mommy Wars” writ large. From the research, the message has been a modest note of caution. Overall effects are often small and hard to measure, but at least some day care arrangements seem to worsen some kids’ outcomes. Bad results seem most likely, unsurprisingly, when the child care programs in question are lower-quality, or when the families in question can give particularly high-quality care if the child stays home. Read Full Article »