Child Care: What Parents Want — What Children Need (with Jenet Erickson)
With Katharine B. Stevens | Jenet Erickson
Center on Child and Family Policy
May 9, 2024
Leading family researcher Jenet Erickson joined Early Matters to discuss the complex role of childcare in child, maternal, and family well-being. Erickson describes the evolving landscape of work and family life, with important shifts in both women’s and men’s roles within the home and the workforce. She expresses concern about growing policy momentum towards universal childcare, emphasizing the importance of aligning childcare policies with the preferences and needs of families.
Finally, she highlights the paramount importance of strong parent-child relationships for the healthy development of young children. She argues that policy should be driven by recognizing and prioritizing those core relationships. A “work-ist” rather than “family-ist” orientation fails to fulfill the essential human need for deep, bonded connection with other people.
Key Points
Rigorous, longitudinal studies have shown that the cumulative effects of extensive hours in childcare, starting early in life, are associated with increased long-term risk of social and emotional challenges for some subgroups of children.
Yet, policy debates often overlook a crucial distinction between population-level policy considerations and individual-level family experiences. Research finds both that early, extensive, non-parental care can be detrimental to children’s well-being and that many children do not show negative long-term effects.
At the same time, most mothers — and fathers — now prefer a “neo-traditional" family model with flexible work arrangements and shared caregiving. This enables them to prioritize caring for their young children while still engaging in meaningful employment.
Mothers — often single parents — who must work full-time due to economic necessity will benefit most from high-quality, publicly-funded childcare, advancing children’s well-being while also aiming to support positive family interaction.
Current policy debates about childcare and maternal employment largely stress a “one-size-fits-all,” universal childcare approach, failing to respect the varying needs and preferences of different families and children.
About the Guest
Jenet Erickson is a leading family policy researcher focusing on maternal and child well-being in the context of work and family life, and on the distinct contributions of mothers and fathers in children's development. She is a research fellow at the Institute for Family Studies and at the Wheatley Institution, an associate professor in at Brigham Young University, and has been a columnist on family issues for the Deseret News since 2013. Her work has been featured in in the New York Times, Slate Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, Wall Street Journal, and the Today Show, among others.
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See Also
Article ~ April 27, 2021
Report ~ June 14, 2023
Blog ~ November 30, 2022