Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T02:13:47.843Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Effects of Early Years’ Childcare on Child Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties in Lone and Co-Parent Family Situations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2013

HANNAH ZAGEL ,
GITIT KADAR-SATAT ,
MYRTHE JACOBS  and
ANTHONY GLENDINNING
HANNAH ZAGEL
Affiliation:
School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh email: [email protected]
GITIT KADAR-SATAT
Affiliation:
Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh email: [email protected]
MYRTHE JACOBS
Affiliation:
School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde email: [email protected]
ANTHONY GLENDINNING*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of Aberdeen
*
email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

With targeted childcare initiatives and welfare-to-work programmes policy-makers have sought to address employment activation of lone mothers and negative outcomes for children in lone parent households. The present study examines non-parental childcare use and maternal employment among children living in lone and co-parent family situations at ages three and four and emotional and behavioural difficulties at ages four and five. The results demonstrate that negative outcomes associated with lone motherhood are explained largely by mother's age, education, material circumstances and area deprivation; and that maternal employment does not relieve lone mothers’ disadvantages in a way that alleviates the risks of difficulties to their children. However, in any family constellation, mainly group-based formal pre-school childcare does have a positive impact on child difficulties compared to drawing on informal childcare arrangements as main provider. In addition, and specifically for the difficulties of children in lone mother family situations, any non-parental childcare – formal or informal − for at least twenty-five hours per week is beneficial. Study findings support policy agendas which tackle families’ material hardship beyond promoting mothers’ employment, and through investment in formal childcare provision, and also through arrangements allowing lone mothers to divide their weekly load of childcare with another main provider.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 42 , Issue 2 , April 2013 , pp. 235 - 258
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amato, P. R. and Keith, B. (1991), ‘Parental divorce and adult well-being: a meta-analysis’, Journal Marriage and Family, 53: 1, 43–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baron, R. M. and Kenny, D. A. (1986), ‘The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social-psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations’, Journal Personality and Social Psychology, 51: 1173–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bradshaw, P. and Wasoff, F. (2009), Growing up in Scotland: Multiple Childcare Provision and its Effect on Child Outcomes, Research Findings No. 4/2009, Edinburgh: Scottish Government.Google Scholar
British Government (2010), Child Poverty Act 2010, London.Google Scholar
Brody, G. H. and Forehand, R. (1986), ‘Maternal perceptions of child maladjustment as a function of the combined influence of child behavior and maternal depression’, Journal Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54: 2, 237–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cerezo, M. A. and Pons, G. (1996), ‘Ecosystem adversity as setting factors in mothers’ judgment of child behavior and indiscriminate mothering’, European Journal Psychological Assessment, 12: 2, 103–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chase-Lansdale, P. L., Cherlin, A. J. and Kiernan, K. K. (1995), ‘The long-term effects of parental divorce on the mental health of young adults: a developmental perspective’, Child Development, 66: 1614–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conway, E. (2010), ‘Poor cows or dangerous beasts? The representation of “underclass” women in broadsheet newspapers: media portrayals, political identity and policy’, Social Policy Association Annual Conference, July 2010, Lincoln, UK.Google Scholar
Crawford, J. R. and Henry, J. D. (2003), ‘The depression anxiety stress scales (DASS): normative data and latent structure in a large non-clinical sample’, British Journal Clinical Psychology, 42: 111–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CRFR (2011), Growing Up in Scotland Study, Centre for Research on Families and Relationships, Edinburgh University, http://www.crfr.ac.uk/gus/.Google Scholar
Cunningham-Burley, S., Carty, A., Martin, C. and Birch, A. (2005), Sure Start Scotland Mapping Exercise 2004, Report on the development and expansion of Sure Start Scotland services since 2001, Edinburgh: Scottish Executive.Google Scholar
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2009), Family Resources Survey 2007–2008, London: DWP.Google Scholar
Dronkers, J. (1994), ‘The changing effects of lone parent families on the educational attainment of their children in a European welfare state’, Sociology, 28 (1): 171–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dumas, J. E. and Serketich, W. J. (1994), ‘Maternal depressive symptomatology and child maladjustment: a comparison of three process models’, Behavior Therapy, 25: 161–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duncan, S. and Edwards, R. (1999), Lone Parents, Paid Work and Gendered Moral Rationalities, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunn, J., Deater-Deckard, K., Pickering, K., O'Connor, T. G. and Golding, J. (1998), ‘Children's adjustment and prosocial behaviour in step-, single-parent, and non-stepfamily settings: findings from a community study’, Journal Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 39: 8, 1083–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ely, M., Richards, M., Wadsworth, M. and Elliott, B. (1999), ‘Secular changes in the association of parental divorce and children's educational attainment – evidence from three British birth cohorts’, Journal Social Policy, 28: 3, 437–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ely, M., West, P., Sweeting, H. and Richards, M. (2000), ‘Teenage family life, life chances, lifestyles and health: a comparison of two contemporary cohorts’, International Journal Law, Policy and the Family, 14: 1, 1–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Entwisle, D. R. and Alexander, K. L. (1995), ‘A parent's economic shadow: family structure versus family resources as influences on early school achievement’, Journal Marriage and Family, 57: 2, 399–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ermisch, J. and Francesconi, M. (2000), ‘The increasing complexity of family relationships: life-time experience of lone motherhood and stepfamilies in Great Britain’, European Journal Population, 16: 3, 235–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ermisch, J. and Francesconi, M. (2001), ‘Family structure and children's achievements’, Journal of Population Economics, 14: 2, 249–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finn, D. and Gloster, R. (2010), Lone Parent Obligations: A Review of Recent Evidence on the Work-related Requirements within the Benefit Systems of Different Countries, Norwich: Department for Work and Pensions.Google Scholar
Giddings, L., Dingeldey, I. and Ulbricht, S. (2004), ‘The commodification of lone mothers’ labor: a comparison of US and German policies’, Feminist Economics, 10: 2, 115–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gold, T. (2011), ‘The Right has chosen their scapegoat – the single mum. And she will bleed’, Guardian Online, 19 August, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/19/single-mothers-uk-riots-tanya-gold.Google Scholar
Goodman, A., Lamping, D. L. and Ploubidis, G. B. (2010), ‘When to use broader internalising and externalising subscales instead of the hypothesised five subscales on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ): data from British parents, teachers and children’, Journal Abnormal Child Psychology, 38: 1179–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodman, A. and Goodman, R. (2011), ‘Population mean scores predict child mental disorder rates: validating SDQ prevalence estimators in Britain’, Journal Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52: 100–08.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gregg, P., Washbrook, E., Propper, C. and Burgess, S. (2005), ‘The effects of a mother's return to work decision on child development in the UK’, Economic Journal, 115: 48–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griest, D. L., Forehand, R., Wells, K. C. and McMahon, R. J. (1980), ‘An examination of differences between nonclinic and behavior-problem clinic-referred children and their mothers’, Journal Abnormal Psychology, 89: 3, 497–500.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gross, D., Sambrook, A. and Fogg, L. (1999), ‘Behavior problems among young children in low-income urban daycare centers’, Research in Nursing and Health, 22: 15–25.3.0.CO;2-2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Handler, J. (2004), Social Citizenship and Workfare in the United States and Western Europe: The Paradox of Inclusion, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, K. and Hawkes, D. (2009), ‘Early childcare and child development’, Journal Social Policy, 38: 2, 211–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, A. (2011), ‘Free nursery places for 140,000 disadvantaged toddlers’, BBC News Online, 11 November, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-15675494.Google Scholar
Haux, T. (2011), ‘Lone parents and the Conservatives: anything new?’, in Kilkey, M., Holden, C. and Ramia, G. (eds.), Social Policy Review, 23, Social Policy Association, Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Hutchings, J., Bywater, T., Daley, D., Gardner, F., Whitaker, C., Jones, K., Eames, C. and Edwards, R. T. (2007), ‘Parenting intervention in Sure Start services for children at risk of developing conduct disorder: pragmatic randomised control trial’, British Medical Journal, 334: 678–682.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joshi, H., Cooksey, E. C., Wiggins, R. D., McCulloch, A., Verropoulou, G. and Clarke, L. (1999), ‘Diverse family living situations and child development: a multi-level analysis comparing longitudinal evidence from Britain and the United States’, International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 13: 3, 292–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kiernan, K. E. (1992), ‘The impact of family disruption in childhood on transitions made in young adult life’, Population Studies, 46: 2, 213–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kilkey, M. and Bradshaw, J. (1999), ‘Lone mothers, economic well-being, and policies’, in Sainsbury, D. (ed.), Gender and Welfare State Regimes, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lewis, J. and Hobson, B. (1997), ‘Introduction’, in Lewis, J. (ed.), Lone Mothers in European Welfare Regimes: Shifting Policy Logics, London and Philadelphia, PA: J. Kingsley Publishers.Google Scholar
Lewis, J. (1999), ‘The “problem” of lone motherhood in comparative perspective’, in Clasen, J. (ed.), Comparative Social Policy: Concepts, Theories, and Methods, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.Google Scholar
Lewis, J. (2006), Children, Changing Families and Welfare States, Northhampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, J. (2011), ‘From Sure Start to children's centres: an analysis of policy change in English early years’ programmes’, Journal of Social Policy, 40: 1, 71–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lovibond, S. H. and Lovibond, P. F. (1995), Manual for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, Sydney: Psychology Foundation.Google Scholar
McMunn, A. M., Nazrooa, J. Y., Marmota, M. G., Borehamb, R. and Goodman, R. (2001), ‘Children's emotional and behavioural well-being and the family environment: findings from the Health Survey for England’, Social Science and Medicine, 53: 4, 423–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Millar, J. and Ridge, T. (2008), ‘Relationships of care: working lone mothers, their children and employment sustainability’, Journal of Social Policy, 38: 1, 103–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Millar, J. and Rowlingson, K. (eds.) (2001), Lone Parents, Employment and Social Policy: Cross-National Comparisons, Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Mulvaney, M. K., Mebert, C. J. and Flint, J. (2007), ‘Parental affect and childrearing beliefs uniquely predict mothers’ and fathers’ ratings of children's behavior problems’, Journal Applied Developmental Psychology, 28: 445–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OECD (2011), OECD Family Database, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, http://www.oecd.org/els/social/family/database.Google Scholar
Paton, G. (2007), ‘Working together: policy and practice in Scottish early childhood centres’, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 15: 3, 441–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plantenga, J., Remery, C., Siegel, M. and Sementini, L. (2008), ‘Childcare services in 25 European Union member states: the Barcelona targets revisited’, in Leira, A. and Saraceno, C. (eds.), Childhood: Changing Contexts, Comparative Social Research, 25: 27–53.Google Scholar
Phillips, M. (2011), ‘Britain's liberal intelligentsia has smashed virtually every social value’, Daily Mail Online, 11 August, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2024690/UK-riots-2011-Britains-liberal-intelligentsia-smashed-virtually-social-value.html.Google Scholar
Rafferty, A. and Wiggins, J. (2011), ‘Choice and welfare reform: lone parent decision-making around paid work and family life’, Journal of Social Policy, 40: 2, 275–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richards, L. N. and Schmiege, C. J. (1993), ‘Problems and strengths of single-parent families: implications for practice and policy’, Family Relations, 42: 3, 277–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, D., Pevalin, D. J. and O'Reilly, K. (2005), The National Statistics Socio-economic Classification [NS-SEC], Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Rowlingson, K. and McKay, S. (2005), ‘Lone motherhood and socio-economic disadvantage: insights from quantitative and qualitative evidence’, Sociological Review, 53: 1, 30–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sammons, P., Elliot, K. and Sylva, K. (2004), ‘The impact of pre-school on young children's cognitive attainments at entry to reception’, British Educational Research Journal, 30: 5, 691–712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scottish Care Inspectorate (2011), Care Service List, Dundee: Scottish Care Inspectorate.Google Scholar
Scottish Executive (2000), Summary Results of the 1999–2000 Census of Pre-School Education Centres, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Scottish Executive (2003), Summary Results of the 2003 Pre-School and Day Care Census, Statistics Publication Notice, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Scottish Executive (2004), A Curriculum for Excellence, Curriculum Review Group, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Scottish Government (2006), The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2006: General Report, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Scottish Government (2007), Growing Up in Scotland Research Findings No.2: Use of Childcare by Parents of Young Children, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Scottish Government (2008), Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2007–2008, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Scottish Government (2010a), Pre-school and Childcare Statistics 2010, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Scottish Government (2010b), Child Poverty in Scotland: A Brief Overview of the Evidence, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Singh, G. K. and Ghandour, R. M. (2012), ‘Impact of neighborhood social conditions and household socioeconomic status on behavioral problems among US children’, Maternal and Child Health Journal, DOI: 10.1007/s10995–012-1005-z.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sky News (2011), ‘PM: Tackling Gangs New National Priority’, Sky News Online, 15 August, http://news.sky.com/home/politics/article/16050003.Google Scholar
Sure Start (2005), National Evaluation Report: Early Impacts of Sure Start Local Programmes on Children and Families Research Report 13, http://www.ness.bbk.ac.uk/impact/documents/1183.pdf.Google Scholar
Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I. and Taggart, B. (2004), The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) Project: Findings from Pre-school to end of Key Stage 1, London: Institute of Education.Google Scholar
Thomson, E., Hanson, T. L. and McLanahan, S. S. (1994), ‘Family structure and child well-being: economic resources vs. parental behaviors’, Social Forces, 73: 1, 221–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Treanor, M. (2012), Impacts of Poverty on Children and Young People, Scottish Childcare and Protection Network Research Briefing, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Vincent, C., Braun, A. and Ball, S. J. (2008), ‘Childcare, choice and social class: caring for young children in the UK’, Critical Social Policy, 28: 5, 5–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wincott, D. (2006), ‘Paradoxes of New Labour social policy: toward universal childcare in Europe's “most liberal” welfare regime?’, Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society, 13: 2, 286–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winter, K. (2009), ‘Recent policy initiatives in early childhood and the challenges for the Social Work profession’, British Journal Social Work, 39: 1235–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, S. (2012),‘Welfare-to-work, agency and personal responsibility’, Journal of Social Policy, 41:2, 309–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar