Purchased Inputs versus Time Inputs in Child Development

This study considers the question: Does participating in daycare outside the home put the child at a future disadvantage? However, there appears to be two forces at work which may result in two different answers to this question. One or two possibilities may happen when a child participates in daycare. First, the child loses nurturing time with his or her parents. This effect, the lost time effect, should hinder a child’s development. The second effect is the purchased input effect. A child who is in daycare spends less time with his or her parents, but that parent is able to spend that time earning income. This income can then be used to purchase inputs to improve the child’s development. However, it is unclear, a priori, which effect dominates. The goal of this study is to determine whether the lost time effect or purchased input effect is stronger. Therefore, by looking at the net effect of these two competing forces the question of whether or not a child is adversely affected by daycare will be answered. This article is available in The Park Place Economist: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/parkplace/vol14/iss1/15 The Park Place Economist, Volume XIV Introduction T he composition of the workforce today is increased opportunities in the workplace. Further, these opportunities are becoming more attractive as the glass ceiling which has kept these groups out of top jobs is being broken. Since in the workforce, they are spending less time in the home performing what has been typically held as female duties. These responsibilities have included housekeeping, cooking, and child rearing. As gender roles continue to be deconstructed in the workforce, they are simultaneously changing in the home. Child rearing is an activity that must occur regardless of the work choices of the parents. However, the consequences of who provide this key role in the child’s life are receiving increased study in light of the trends of increased female participation in the workforce. This study considers the question: Does However, there appears to be two forces at work which may result in two different answers to this question. One or two possibilities may happen when a child participates in daycare. First, the child loses nurturing time with his or her parents. This effect, the lost time effect, should hinder a child’s development. The second effect is the purchased input effect. A child who is in daycare spends less time with his or her parents, but that parent is able to spend that time earning income. This income can then be used to purchase inputs to improve the child’s development. However, it is unclear, a priori, which effect dominates. The goal of this study is to determine whether the lost time effect or purchased input effect is stronger. Therefore, by looking at the net effect of these two competing forces the question of whether or not a child is adversely affected by daycare will be answered. Addressing this issue is important because it affects human capital accumulation. Thus the better one is developed and the more human capital one possesses, the more successful he or she will be in the workforce. Therefore, any opportunity to improve human capital or understand why it is This paper develops as follows. Section I provides a review of the literature on this subject. Section II provides the theory that is used as a basis for the empirical testing of my hypothesis. Section III presents the empirical model to be used in this study along with the data used. Section IV provides the results. The paper then closes with section V which discusses policy implications and conclusions of the study. I. Review of Literature on whether professional daycare adversely affects a child’s future development. Further, the concept of development and its degree is also subject to argument. Also, the period of childhood where the individual is not in the care of a parent may be of importance. Because of the vast variety of measurements, this may be why there is disagreement over results. Often times a single study may produce different results for different time periods in the child’s life. development of children in the UK during various stages of their early life according to the work 63 Purchased Inputs versus Time Inputs in Child Development. Nick Holland choices of the child’s parent. His study uses data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, which contains approximately 12,000 children born in the Avon area. The measures used for development are two different exams that the child takes in school which test writing, math, months of her child’s life negatively affects the child’s development, however any type of work