What the Best Research on Daycare Really Says

This is the motherlode

Okay, friends, here it is: the MOST comprehensive analysis of the research on daycare that has ever been done on Substack. Actually, it might be the most comprehensive analysis of the research on daycare that has ever been made publicly available to non-academics on the internet. It’s DEFINITELY the most comprehensive analysis of the research on daycare that has ever been written by a mother of two children under five while all three of them hung out for hours on end, day after day, at a McDonald’s PlayPlace.

Initially, I was going to make this available to everyone for free, but then I decided that I had put way too much work into it and I deserve to be paid. This is, after all, how I earn my living these days. In an ideal world, I would put up free articles and people who appreciate them would pay for them, but most people are just not that generous. Last weekend we had a “pay what you want” garage sale in our front yard and it turns out that what most people WANT to pay is $0. I think we sold half the contents of our house for twenty bucks. I am not saying this to judge anyone. It’s totally natural, normal human behavior. I would do the same. But that’s why I am putting up a paywall.

That said, as always, if you are dying to read this and can’t afford it, please email me for a comp.

Here’s what we are going to cover:

• Why it is so hard to draw meaningful conclusions from the research on this topic, what variables matter, and why I still trust the highest quality studies

• Deep dive on the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD), one of the most comprehensive studies ever conducted on the impact of early childcare experiences on child development

• Deep dive on the rollout of universal childcare in Quebec, one of the largest natural experiments on the effects of childcare policy we have available

• A look at what some of the highest-quality meta-analyses say about the impact of daycare on children

• A look at cortisol patterns in children depending on type and quality of caregiving arrangement

• Some thoughts on what this means for policy

• Some advice on how to evaluate a quality daycare and how to avoid some of the more negative short-term and long-term effects (without quitting your job)

Okay, ready?

LET’S GET INTO IT!

Warning: there are going to be hurt feelings. Nobody walks away from a comprehensive discussion of daycare feeling totally happy and vindicated. I am sure plenty of moms on both sides of the debate are going to be mad at me after reading this. This is a risk I am willing to take. If I hurt your feelings in the process, I am sorry. I really, truly did my best to check my own biases at the door and deliver an impartial analysis of the best available research and…I think it has value. I think it’s useful. I hope you feel the same. And if you don’t, go ahead and yell at me, but please don’t make it personal. I’m just the messenger.