Journal
PEDIATRICS
Volume 136, Issue 6, Pages 1112-1124Publisher
AMER ACAD PEDIATRICS
DOI: 10.1542/peds.2015-0419
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Funding
- Quebec Government Ministry of Health
- Fonds Quebecois de Recherche sur la Societe et la Culture (FQRSC)
- Quebec's Health Research Fund
- Canada Research Chair in Child Development
- Canada's Social Science and Humanities Research Council
- Canadian Institutes for Health Research
- Ste-Justine Hospital's Research Center
- University of Montreal
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OBJECTIVE: To determine if child-care services (CCS) at a population level can reduce social inequalities in academic performance until early adolescence. METHODS: A 12-year population-based prospective cohort study of families with a newborn (n = 1269). Two CCS variables were estimated: intensity (low, moderate, and high number of hours) and center-based CCS type (early onset, late onset, and never exposed to center-based CCS). RESULTS: Children from low socioeconomic status (SES) families who received high-intensity CCS (any type), compared with those who received low-intensity CCS, had significantly better reading (standardized effect size [ES] = 0.37), writing (ES = 0.37), and mathematics (ES = 0.46) scores. Children from low-SES families who received center-based CCS, compared with those who never attended center care, had significantly better reading (ESearly onset = 0.68; ESlate onset = 0.37), writing (ESearly (onset) = 0.79), and mathematics (ESearly (onset) = 0.66; ESlate (onset) = 0.39) scores. Furthermore, early participation in center-based CCS eliminated the differences between children of low and adequate SES on all 3 examinations (ES =-0.01, 0.13, and-0.02 for reading, writing, and mathematics, respectively). These results were obtained while controlling for a wide range of child and family variables from birth to school entry. CONCLUSIONS: Child care services (any type) can reduce the social inequalities in academic performance up to early adolescence, while early participation in center-based CCS can eliminate this inequality. CCS use, especially early participation in center-based CCS, should be strongly encouraged for children growing up in a low-SES family.
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