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There has been an explosion of day care in the last three decades. But what are the effects on children’s long term development?

Starting from a nursery, this programme explores these questions with case studies, documentary sources and expert analysis from Jay Belsky and Julia Berryman.

The programme is divided into three self-standing sections:

1: The Tie That Binds

We begin by looking at the concept of attachment and the question of whether periods in day care may be harming children’s development. We then look at how psychologists have studied this relationship.

2: Suffer the Little Children?

This section looks at psychological research into the effects of day care on children’s emotional, cognitive and social development. It illustrates methodologies, such as the strange situation and longitudinal survey methods, and summarises the results of this work.

3: Time Counts

The final section begins by looking at recent longitudinal research in America. Jay Belsky explains that the effects of day care are not just influenced by quality care (as many psychologists believed) but also time spent in care. We end by looking at how ideas about day care have changed over time, and what might be done to help parents combine work and child care more effectively.