Impact Study on Early Education Use and Child Outcomes Up to Age Five Years

SUMMARY

The Study of Early Education and Development (SEED) is conducted by a consortium including the National Centre for Social Research, the University of Oxford, Action for Children and Frontier Economics.

The researchers used data on 3,186 children and their families, collected when children were aged two, three, four and five years old. Of these children, 3,149 had attended formal group early education and childcare, such as nursery, 419 had been looked after by a childminder and 1,686 had experienced informal childcare, such as being looked after by a relative or nanny.

The results showed children who spent more time in formal group childcare, such as nurseries, were more likely to experience a number of poor outcomes during year 1 at school. They displayed more “externalising behaviour” such as aggression, more “internalising behaviour” like anxiety, and less “prosocial behaviour” – positive behaviour that benefits others. They also showed less behavioural self-regulation and less emotional self-regulation. Children who spent more hours in informal childcare were more likely to show small benefits in verbal ability in year 1.