Donny Verkamp’s Parenting Life Blog

Babies that are looked after by their grandparents while their mothers are out at work are less ready for school than if they went to nurseries, new research suggests.

Working parents increasingly rely on grandparents to look after their children but a study published today finds that while grandparents do more to help develop a baby’s vocabulary, they may struggle to provide the other educational and social experiences infants need.

According to research by the Institute of Education, children looked after by grandparents at the age of nine months were also considered to be less sociable with other children at age three than those who had been in the care of a nursery, creche, childminder, nanny or another relative.

The study of 4,800 UK children born in 2000 and 2001 who had mothers who worked when they were babies compares formal care in a group setting with informal care by grandparents.

The findings suggest that formal care given by qualified staff following a more structured curriculum, such as that provided by nurseries and creches, will help a child’s cognitive development more than less formal care provided by relatives, friends and neighbours.

Three-year-olds who had been in group settings in nurseries and creches at nine months were often more ready for school showing a better understanding of colours, letters, numbers and counting, sizes, comparisons and shapes.

Not only were girls, children from two-parent families and those with better-educated mothers more likely to be ready for school having had formal group care, but so were less advantaged children. Toddlers with younger mothers and from households on benefits, that were placed in formal group care also showed higher test scores. The researchers suggest that childcare in nurseries and creches could “reduce early inequalities” as a result.

They currently receive no allowances, tax breaks or grants for the childcare they provide.

If they register as childminders they can receive support and training and can be paid by the parent who can claim back some of the cost through the working tax credit.

But at present grandparents can only do this if they also care for a child who is not a relative, and many are unable or unprepared to take on this additional burden.

“However, this study is a reminder that group childcare has an important role to play in the development of pre-school-aged children, especially children from deprived family backgrounds, improving behaviour and giving children a much needed head start when they begin school.”

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