A lot of children are involved. About 50 percent of infants under 12 months are in some form of child care. That means your little baby may thrash around in a crib and wail unattended as caregivers struggle to meet the demands of too many little babies. It means your toddler's attempts at learning through exploration may be met with sharp, chilling rebukes. They care about how their children spend the day.
Research is ongoing, but some impressive findings suggest it matters very much.
But that study, by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, also found that children who are in good quality child care enter school with better language comprehension than those cared for at home. Nevertheless, University of Minnesota researcher Megan Gunnar found in a separate study that even children in good-quality child care show elevated levels of a stress hormone as the day wears on. So maybe children should be home with Mom or Dad for the first five years. Maybe parents should give up the second car, the fancy house, the long vacation and make do with less so they can nurture their offspring. But the second paycheck doesn't buy frills for many dual-income families.