11/23/2015

The more time low-income children spend in daycare, the better they’re likely to be doing in school at age 12, a Canadian study suggests.

While previous research has linked high quality daycare centers to better academic performance, the current study focussed on whether daycare might help reduce or eliminate income-based disparities in achievement through adolescence.

Researchers found that children from low-income families who spent the most time in center-based care scored 37 percent better on reading and writing tests and 46 percent better on math exams at age 12 than similar kids who logged the fewest hours in daycare centers.

“Children from disadvantaged families who remain at home have double risks – they evolve in a home environment that is less stimulating than that of non-disadvantaged children and they are not exposed to the learning experience that most children receive by going to child care,” senior author Sylvana Cote, of the University of Montreal in Canada, said by email.

Source: Reuters

Available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-kids-daycare-idUSKBN0TC1XN20151123