Abstract
High‐quality, centre‐based education and care during the early years benefit cognitive development, especially in children from disadvantaged backgrounds. During the COVID‐19 pandemic and its associated lockdowns, access to early childhood education and care (ECEC) was disrupted. We investigate how this period affected the developmental advantages typically offered by ECEC. Using parent‐report data from 189 families living in the UK, we explore associations between time spent in ECEC by 8‐to‐36‐month‐olds, their socioeconomic background, and their growth in language and executive functions between Spring and Winter 2020. Receptive vocabulary growth was greater in children who continued to attend ECEC during the period, with a stronger positive effect for children from less advantaged backgrounds. The growth of cognitive executive functions (CEFs) was boosted by ECEC attendance during the period, regardless of socioeconomic background. Our findings highlight the importance of high‐quality ECEC for the development of key skills and for levelling socioeconomic inequalities.
Highlights
Increases in receptive vocabulary were positively associated with early childhood education and care (ECEC), such that more exposure to ECEC during the 2020 pandemic was associated with greater increases in receptive vocabulary during that period: beta = 23.55, meaning that a child who regularly accessed 1 day of ECEC per week during the pandemic could be expected to understand 24 more new words over the Spring–Winter 2020 period compared with their peers, whilst a child who regularly accessed 2 days of ECEC per week during the pandemic could be expected to understand 48 more new words over the Spring–Winter 2020 period compared with their peers
There was no significant main effect of socioeconomic status (SES), but there was a significant interaction between SES and ECEC, such that the benefits of ECEC on receptive vocabulary were more pronounced for children from lower-SES backgrounds
This exploratory study examined associations between two aspects of young children's environment: time spent in ECEC and their SES, and growth in aspects of their cognitive development: expressive and receptive vocabulary, Cognitive Executive Function (CEF), and regulation, measured during the 2020 COVID-19 crisis in a cohort of families living in the UK
Summary
High-quality, centre-based childcare during the first 3 years of life shows benefits for children's cognitive, language, and social development at school entry and beyond, across a range of national contexts (Barnes & Melhuish, 2017; Burchinal et al, 2000; Camilli, Vargas, Ryan, & Barnett, 2010; Drange & Havnes, 2019; Eryigit-Madzwamuse & Barnes, 2014; Hansen & Hawkes, 2009; Melhuish et al, 2015; Melhuish & Gardiner, 2017; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network, 2000) These effects are pronounced in children from disadvantaged backgrounds (Connell & Prinz, 2002; Felfe, Nollenberger, & RodríguezPlanas, 2015; Geoffroy et al, 2007, 2010; Larose, Côté, Ouellet-Morin, Maughan, & Barker, 2020; Melhuish, 2004; Melhuish et al, 2015), meaning that investment in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is a powerful way of alleviating socioeconomic inequalities (Center on the Developing Child, 2010; Heckman, 2006). Space and facilities, structure and content of daily activities, staff turnover, and qualifications of care providers have been positively associated with children's cognitive outcomes (Hansen & Hawkes, 2009)
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