This book is concerned with the question of how families matter in young people's development - a question of obvious interest and importance to a wide range of readers, which has serious policy implication. A series of key current topics concerning families are examined by the top international scholars in the field, including the key risks affecting children, individual differences in their resilience, links between families and peers, the connections between parental work and children's family lives, the impact of childcare, divorce, and parental separation, grandparents, and new family forms such as lesbian and surrogate mother families. The latest research findings are brought together with discussion of policy issues raised.

"Childcare is as necessary for most families as an automobile and a microwave oven, but infinitely harder to find and more expensive to buy. And there is no Consumer Reports rating to refer to in assessing the quality of that care."--from page 172 "Children in childcare centers do better intellectually than children who remain at home. Children in childcare centers did better on tests of verbal fluency, memory, and comprehension . . . and they were able to identify other peoples' feelings and points of view earlier."--from page 87 "Some studies also show that children in childcare tend to be less polite, less agreeable, less compliant with their mothers' or caregivers' demands and requests, less respectful of others' rights . . . How can we integrate these negative differences with the differences in positive social behavior? Are children in childcare . . . socially skilled but bossy, friendly but aggressive, outgoing but rude? It has been suggested--not totally facetiously--that this profile sounds a lot like a successful CEO. It turns out, however, that it is not the same children who are friendly and bossy . . . It seems likely that childcare promotes social advancement in some children and leads to behavior problems in others."--from page 90 "There is no proof that being in care in infancy leads to behavior problems down the road . . . There is no compelling evidence that beginning care in infancy has detrimental effects on children's relationships with their mothers."--from page 99 "Although boys in childcare do indeed become more sociable than boys at home--and although girls in childcare do increase in autonomy, problem solving, and even belligerence--childcare does not wipe outthe differences between the sexes . . . Are there other differences in the effects of childcare on boys and girls? It has frequently been documented that boys are more vulnerable to events in the environment, girls more resilient . . . Are boys worse off than girls when in childcare? The answer is a weak 'maybe.'"--from pages 101-102 "Good-quality care may serve as a protective factor for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, but its effects are not inevitable, nor do they wipe out family disadvantage."--from page 161 "The tensions expressed by these parents--who are using childcare but worrying about it--suggest that researchers need to communicate better about the positive effects of care on children's development and family well-being. Parents need to feel assured that they are doing well by their children, that childcare can be a positive experience, and that both they and their children can benefit from it. Parents also need to feel empowered to evaluate childcare facilities accurately . . . And finally, parents should appreciate that the quality of a child's home life is still likely to be the most important factor in his or her development, even for children who spend many hours in childcare each week."--from page 165

This book is concerned with the question of how families matter in young people's development - a question of obvious interest and importance to a wide range of readers, which has serious policy implication. A series of key current topics concerning families are examined by the top international scholars in the field, including the key risks affecting children, individual differences in their resilience, links between families and peers, the connections between parental work and children's family lives, the impact of childcare, divorce, and parental separation, grandparents, and new family forms such as lesbian and surrogate mother families. The latest research findings are brought together with discussion of policy issues raised.

Modern parents experience more documented physical and psychological stress related to the provision of childcare than have any on record thus far. Statistics show that as a number of working mpothers has surged in the 1980s and the 1990s, the problems of negotiating the dual demands of work and home have also sharpley increased in both complexity and number. The average working mother spends 40 hours a week in employment outside the home and another 36 caring for children and the home. Her average weekly commute has risen ten hours within the 1990s. More than ever, the emotional welfare of families depends on good daycare. In this revised and expanded edition of her study of 1982, Alison Clarke-Stewart draws on extensive research to survey the social, political and economic landscape of daycare between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. Her evaluation of the current status, options and consequences of daycare are designed to enable parents to make informed choices for their children and provides a glimpse of how their choices will affect future generations. The subject is approached from several angles: comparisons of past and present as well as American and global practices and reviews