ABSTRACT
As mothers of young children increasingly are employed in the workforce and infants and toddlers are spending more time in nonfamilial care, research has increasingly focused on whether and how nonparental care affects the development of children. Currently, over 60% of mothers with children less than 3 years of age are either employed outside the home or looking for work (U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau, 2002). Of the mothers with children between 3 and 5 years of age, 70% are employed or looking for work. More than half of those children are being cared for on a regular basis by someone who is not a parent or grandparent (Coleman & Ganong, 2003).
