New study: Childcare can cause learning difficulties

A new University study shows children spending more than 21 hours per week could affect their learning at school.

In Australia, about 1.9 million children attend care centres on a regular basis, with one quarter of them for up to 10 hours per day.

Working mother of two Nitty Brown juggles motherhood with a busy career, and has placed her children in childcare.

“They started in family daycare when they were really young, and then I moved them to childcare to give them more interaction with other kids,” she said.

In particular, the study found a link between long hours in care and difficulties learning mathematics and literacy.

“Participation for a large number of hours in long daycare centres was found to have a negative association,” Researcher Nicholas Biddle said.

“What we need to focus on is the experience of kids up until the age of three and four,” Mr Biddle said.

However, the findings have divided experts, with some believing the problem is not the number of hours spent in childcare, but that it is the quality of education provided by the centre itself.

Samantha Page, Early Childhood Australia CEO

“I think it’s got more to do with the quality of the services, and also there's a few questions we would ask about the study in terms of what the children’s experience was before that year,” CEO of Early Childhood Australia Samantha Page said.

Since the study, the state and federal governments have teamed up to roll out a nationwide program to lift childcare standards by 2020