Asses the extent to which research supports the view that day care has negative effects on children's cognitive and social development

Studies to investigate the effects of day care on cognitive development produced some contradictory results. A study of 146 eight-year-old Swedish children by Broberg (1997) showed that those who had attended day nurseries as infants consistently produced higher results in tests of verbal and mathematical ability than children who had been raised by childminders or at home. However, a study of 1000 American 3-4 year old children found that children who attended day care since before they were one had the lowest vocabulary scores regardless of their social class, however this analogy only applied to white children. Again, the variation in results is likely to be based on cultural background, the testing methods and the overall quality of care the children received.

Day care can have two effects on a child’s social development, in a well structured, stimulating environment children’s social skills can flourish, they can become more independent, better at coping with new situations and better at making and maintaining friendships. However in a disorganised environment where the quality of care is less, children can become aggressive and non-compliant.

In conclusion, most researchers now believe that the overall factors that determine good or bad social and cognitive development in day care systems are the quality of care, structure and stimulation the children receive.