ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with variations in the extent to which young children receive care from adults other than their parents and the effects that such care arrangements have on their development. Although it has traditionally been viewed by developmentalists as a deviant and thus potentially harmful practice, nonparental care is extremely common. U.S. Census statistics show that 55% of mothers with children under one year of age were employed or looking for work by 1994 (H. Hayghe, personal communication, October 17, 1995) and that rates of employment rise as children grow older. Approximately 66% of preschool children and 75% of school-age children had mothers in the work force by 1995 with few differences in the employment rates of married and single mothers (H. Hayghe, personal communication, October 17, 1995). Even higher proportions of children have employed fathers. The majority of children thus receive some form of nonparental care on a regular basis, although a surprisingly large proportion have parents who adjust their work schedules to allow the two parents to share child care responsibilities (Presser, 1986, 1988).
