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Begun in 2003-04, Growing Up in Australia is a longitudinal study of Australian children initiated and funded by the Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services.
A summary of Growing Up in Australia
Linda Harrison and Judy Ungerer provide an overview of the first wave of data from the Growing Up in Australia study, which examines patterns of use of child care.
Their full report, What can the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children tell us about infants' and 4 to 5 year olds' experiences of early childhood education and care?, is available for download from Australian Policy Online.
In opening their report, Harrison and Ungerer, explain:
Research studies indicate that good quality child care can provide support for children’s learning, socialisation, and development, particularly in the transition to school years (Press and Hayes 2000), and can be an effective intervention for disadvantaged children or for children with special educational needs (NSW Department of Community Services 2005; Sylva et al. 2003). In contrast, research also suggests that children in poor quality care may be exposed to some level of developmental risk (Love et al. 2003; NICHD ECCRN 2005; Sims et al. 2005). However, the vast majority of child care research studies have been done overseas, where the context of care and its regulation and monitoring are very different to Australia.
Furthermore, Harrison and Ungerer cite 'considerable evidence that preschool enhances child development and that children who do not attend early childhood education before entering school may be at risk'
'Should under 3s go to nursery?'
However, following this report on the Growing Up in Australia study, Steve Biddulph, author of Raising babies: Should under 3s go to nursery?, said that children, particularly those placed in child care from the age of six months, were at risk of developmental problems.
Mr Biddulph's book has outraged Australian parenting experts, who acknowledge that child care can have a negative impact, but only if it is of poor quality.
In response, early childhood researcher Associate Professor Margaret Sims reiterated the view of Harrison and Ungerer when she cautioned that a lot of the research was done in the US, where child care was often not up to the same standard as in Australia:
There is no reason why someone who is paid to do the job in a good environment can't provide a good or even better care than a parent.
(Source: Child care 'damaging' tots)
