Child care services, socioeconomic inequalities, and academic performance
Child care and academic performance
Article [Accepted Manuscript]
Is part of
Pediatrics ; vol. 136, no. 6, pp. 1112-1124.Publisher(s)
American Academy of PediatricsAuthor(s)
Affiliation
Abstract(s)
Objective. To determine if child care services (CCS) at a population level can reduce social
inequalities in academic performance until early adolescence.
Method. A 12-year population-based prospective cohort study of families with a newborn (n =
1269). Two CCS variables were estimated: ‘intensity’ (low, moderate and high number of hours)
and ‘Center-Based CCS Type’ (early-, late-onset, and never exposed to center-based CCS).
Results. Children from low socioeconomic status (SES) families who received high-intensity
CCS (any type), compared to those who received low-intensity CCS, had significantly better
reading (Standardized Effect Size [ES]= .37), writing (ES=.37), and mathematics (ES=.46)
scores. Children from low-SES families who received center-based CCS, compared to those who
never attended center-care, had significantly better reading (ES early-onset =.68; ES late-onset =.37),
writing (ES early-onset =.79), and mathematics (ES early-onset =.66; ES late-onset =.39) scores.
Furthermore, early participation in center-based CCS eliminated the differences between
children of low- and adequate-SES on all three exams (ES = -.01, .13, and -.02 for reading,
writing and mathematics, respectively). These results were obtained while controlling for a wide
range of child and family variables from birth to school entry.
Conclusion. Child care services (any type) can reduce the social inequalities in academic
performance up to early adolescence, while early participation in center-based CCS can
eliminate this inequality. CCS use, especially early participation in center-based CCS should be
strongly encouraged for children growing up in a low-SES family.
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