Article date: 05-24-2018

Childcare is an underrated service, but it is one that is so important to parents and guardians across the world. This blog talks about why childcare is important for both parents and children.

It´s the balance that every parent strives for – work, life and family. On one hand, two incomes are essential in the modern age and that means for pre-school children being care cared for someone other than their parents.

But on the other, it means finding reliable childcare that is professional and nurturing, and one in which your child thrives.

There are various childcare options: a private nanny, a live-in au pair, a childminder or a day nursery. Childcare is essential, but this doesn’t mean it comes without its problems and issues.

Stressed children

A recent study by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology look at children and their stress levels. And it seems that according to this latest piece, some children find the long day at nursery very stressful.

For children who were in childcare for longer than eight hours, cortisol levels peaked in the afternoon, meaning they were the most stressed.

But before you use this to compound the feelings of guilt of dropping your little one at the door of the nursery or childminder, the research team says that this doesn’t mean it is negative stress. As always, there are two sides to the story…

The argument of the effects of childcare on a child’s emotional and social development have raged for years. With many women choosing to return to work after birth, from the 1980s onwards Mothers were at the thin end of the wedge when it came to childcare issues. The issue was not whether childcare damaged a child but how much.

But longer-term studies have found that the effects of childcare are positive for the majority of children. Finally, the argument that children became more aggressive as a result of being in nursery was put to bed once and for all.

And with parenting being seen as something both parents do, rather than ‘just Mum’, the issue of child care became less of whether it was a good idea or not to how it can be utilised to support the parenting process.

What the latest batch of studies on the effects of child care on a child’s development all agree on is that it is the quality of childcare that matters.

Good childcare – how to measure it and the impact on your child

And so, as parents, we look to other people to give the care our children need to protect and nurture them when we are at work. Measuring what is and what is not good childcare is difficult, especially with such an emotionally charged issue.

It is hard for parents to detach from the emotional side of childcare, making the ‘right’ decision to keep their children safe whilst still maintaining and advancing their careers. It is for this reason that the government, organisations and child care providers themselves are looking to make measuring the quality of childcare easier.

In case you want to continue reading this article: https://www.ncchomelearning.co.uk/blog/the-importance-of-good-childcare/