INTRODUCTION

Innovations in the production and servicing of goods have

been taking place ever since man started leading a civilized

life. The ever growing nature of human life causes social'

change. Social change in turn is a continuous process. The

process acceleTateo as a Tesult of simultaneous ano Ta~io

application of scientific thinking, knowledge ~nd technical

skills. This acceleration in Europe during the early eighteenth

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century was termed "Industrial Revolution", or industrialization.

Though the effects of industriallzation in India have not

been identical with those in Europe and the 'Americas, certain

developments have been similar. Industrialization being a

process, is neither total nor static, neither linear nor

universal. Relatively, today, the effects are more obvious and

influence the urban people of India to a greater extent.

Innovations in the process of production and servicing of

goods implied basically two changes - use of technical know-how

and skills in the world of work and mass production. Mass

production in turn meant the shift of work site from the horne,

invariably to a location away from it (Weiner, 1966; Hoselitz and

Moore, 1966).

When the work site was the horne, wo~en, though horne makers

and the chief socializers of children, participated 1n the

economic enterprise of the family or the society at large. This

fact was and is true of agrarian societies. This may be observed
even at present In rural indIa. Sh~tt in job sites reduced their

participation in "work". Leaving the home and hearth would

affect their mothering and home care roles.

The very antecedents which took "work" away from women havp.

been the cause of re-instituting them in the labour force. This

is a cyclic process. Increased industrialization meant the

greater need for technical skills and know-how. This could be

fulfilled by educating the men, as women were undertaking the

roles of home maker and caregiver. Longer periods of education

meant delay in the age of marriage. Girls too had a lengthier

waiting period before marriage. This waiting period fOf them was

also utilized by getting an education.

Sharing of wealth and income in the large and joint families

was difficult as individual ~fforts in seeking a job and earning

became imperative. This made a difference to the power structure

in the family, and then gradually led to its dissociation.

However, this change in the structure of families is in

transition.

To utilize education, women sought employment and for most

of them, it had to be outside the home. Growth of values such as

individualism, independence, rationality and equality also

fostered the emancipation of women from home and. hearth to the

work site. Mechanization of domesti~ work decreased their effort

~. ~

and time spent in household chores. This could be utilized by

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being gainfully employed.

As per the 1981 Census, percentage of women employed to the

total women's populat~Dn nas r~sen trom lL~ ~n 1~ll to 14k In

1981. Rural I urban differences do exist. The rise in urban

areas has been from 7.2% in 1971 to 10.7% in 1981. The

corresponding rise in the rural setting has been from 15.9% to

23.9%. One also notices fluctuations in the employment status of

women from 1901 to 1971. Some of the possible factors that could

explain the fluctuations are sanskritization based on the values

prevailing at the time and the changing criteria of employment

•
status used in periodic Census. Throughout the world, women's

labour force participation is on the rise. Majority of the

employed women, about 77%, i.e. 470 lakhs, are in the child

bearing age group (computed from ILO, 1988; P.32). This implies

that there will be a greater number of mothers employed.

Together with changing family structures, they will need help in

the care of their young children, which may not all come from

relatives and friends. This calls for issues in acquiring

alternate or substitute care.

The Role of the Family Then and Now.

There are many agents of socialization. Society makes

provisions for them. Socialization implies providing for the

different developmental needs of the child, inculcating the mores

and values of the society, and making her a well adjusted member

contributing to the efficient functioning of society. Family by

virtue of being the place where the child starts its life, has

been one of the prime agents in meeting the developmental needs

of the child. The extent to which family meets the developmental

neeaS IS a IunctlOn or SOcIal class. U1ScuSSlon here wlll

pertain ta what happens in middle and upper-middle class

families.

Issues in socialization tend to be perceived as problems

during changing social conditions. This is due to internal

resistance to change and as to how the socializing agents •are

made to perceive the changes. Ho~ever, society and individuals

continuously adopt strategies and coping skills to overcame the

problems ar issues in the upbringing of children. They may nat

even perceive that they are changing their strategies and

standards ta socialize the children. Social scientists who are

aware of the altering conditions perceive these as issues in

child-rearing. Some of the issues, especially those involving

changing social structures, warrant attention. The positive

aspects of the earlier family structures, i.e., joint and large

families, it should be noted, were possible assuming that it was

a child centered family rather than an adult centered one.

Prior to the advent of industrialization, the family

together with the religious order catered .ta all the

developmental needs of the child (Kakar, 1978; 1979). It may

also be remarked that the mother though a party to the economic

enterprise of the family or society, was the chief socializer o~

children. In the joint family this role was/is performed by

other women or older siblings (in the lower classes), but the

mother was either perceived or was the prime person in the

child's life. The mother was mostly at the beck and call of the
child. Mother child separations for long durations were not
warranted. Though many others shared in child rearing, the

maternal person, and that role, was given an exalted status. The

size of the families made it possible to cater to the child's

physiological needs immediately, to attend to the child and to

provide him security.

Large sized families or joint families, with lower age gap

between children, provided for playmates, social interactions and

for the leArning of social skills. It is through sibling

interactions that the emotions of jealousy, competing for

parental love and attention, envy, hate, mutual sharing, love and

the like are experienced.

The size of the families could also provid~ for constant and

a variety of role-models for the child. Various kinds of social

behaviours, values, goal and achievement oriented behaviours were

learnt through these models.

The various members in a family could play different and

simple roles vis-a-vis the child - the mother, an affectionate ,

one, the father or an uncle a disciplinarian one, etc. From the

child's perspective it may be good as she will not have confusing

or conflicting emotions towards different family members.

Ambiguity in feeling, especially towards parents may be difficult

for the child to handle as he is always supposed to be positively

disposed towards them. Yet again, it could be a pressure on the

child adjudsting to varied role demands.

Since families consisted of several members, they could

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contrlDute to cognltlve stlmulatlon ot the child through story

telling, playing and other instructional means. The child not

only had a variety of stimulation but also from various people.

The families also had the infrastructure for children to learn

skills necessary for pursuing family occupations.

•

Moral and religious values were also inculcated by the

family. Religion and religious values passed on from generation

to generation considerably helped in the inculcation of these

values.

As early as 6 to 7 years of age. the child was made to feel

his/her worth. They had something to contribute to the family

functioning. They looked after the younger siblings, acted as

their constant playmates, and in the lower income groups ran

errands - like collecting wood or dung for fire, looking after

the livestock. as they still do in some of the rural areas.

Direct preparation for adult life started earlier (Kagan, 1984).

The role of educating the children, inculcation of moral and

religious values and attitudes were partly by the sub-system of

religion. Later in human histor~, the sub-s~stems of religion.

and education bifurcated their roles. The education system was

given the role of fostering moral and humanitarian values.

The present day nuclear families cannot adequately provide

for the learning of social skills. The characteristics of a

typical nuclear family - viz. few children (the norm being two),
wider age-gap between children, and comprising of only the
bIolOgIcal parents ana the cnIlaren, ao not permlt tnIS. A ChIla

is not very likely to find his/her sjbling to be an appropriate

playmate. When siblings are few and social interactions low,

the emotions of jealousy, competi~g for parental love and

affection, hate and mutual sharing are not experienced. It may

also interfere with the emotional development of the child.

Child adult interactions could be adequate if the family is a

child centered one. Excess of adult company may not be adequate

for the child's development.

Small nuclear families also can~ot provide for constant and

a variety of role models. Different ~nd

•
constant role models are

needed in the day-to-day learning of values, social skills,

morality and achievement orienteJ behaviours so important for

success in adult life. These models to an extent are replaced by

teachers in nursery and primary schools and peer-group members.

Due to different and seemingly opposing roles that parents

have to play or may play, it could create ambiguity and

..
conflicting emotions in the child (Sinha. 1984). Howeve r, the

child may also perceive the motives behind the seemingly opposing

behaviour towards him/her and thus resolve the conflict and

negative emotions he/she is likely to have towards the parents.

Other strategies for resolving conflict may also develop.

As the family size reduced and the parents had to cope with

the pressures of earning their. living and keeping up with

society, the contribution they could make to the child's

education and learning of cognitive s~ills reduced. Occupations

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coula not, to a large extent, be taught at home.

Earlier, the preparation for later life had tangible forms.

With these tangible forms the child could feel ~orthy, that

he/she is also contributing to the family. The changing society

induced a long and intangible means (at least in the middls and

upper-middle classes) in the form of formal education, in

preparing for later life. Initially, a child entered school at 6

or 7 years of age. Increasing competition to get the best

education, and the belief that early stimulation will contribute

more and create a lasting impression on the learning skills,

brought in freschool or nursery education. Preschool education

at the end of early childhood and providing for a stimulating

environment then became the goal of parents and the education

system.

The Share of Substitute Care Forms in Child Development

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With mothers being employed outside the home the issue of

substitute care for the child arose. It is logical that one

seeks for a solution, first in the family. Grandparents of the

children in the middle and upper-middle class families are the

natural choice. Other relatives are the next choice. Care by

these two categories of people may be termed "care by relatives"

(Nakhate, 1987a; 1987b; Naidu, 1987). Care by relatives may be

assumed to be safe and in the best interest of the child if the

parents do not feel that they are being obliged to someone.

This form of substitute care, though security' inducing and

providing for the learning of some social and cognitive skills,
will not provide for the learning of social skills that are

acquired through interactions with the peer group. Self-

reliance and independence may not also be acquired if the

relatives are over-protective and over-indulgent towards the

child in their effort to do their best for the child.

The next logical alternative, again in the middle and upper

middle classes, is care by a paid maid at the child's place. In

the lower classes, the child is either taken to the place of

work, or an older sibling cares for the child. Care by a maid

could be a less attractive option to the parents as she belongs

to a lower socia-economic strata and thus may not be able ·to

provide the developmental inputs that the parents want for the

child. However, in metropolitan areas, where the parents c·annot

take the child to a creche or day care centre, because of the

long distance travelling that is involved, they may have to

settle for .this type of care.

Baby-sitting at the child's place by non-relatives, also not

by a maid from the lower strata, is another form of substitute

care. This care is better than that by a maid servant. A baby-

sitter may be closer to the socia-economic status of the child's

family. She may thus be able to provide the developmental inputs

as desired by the parents. This form of baby-sitting is not

popular (Nakhate, 1987a; 1987b; Naidu, 1987).

Anoth"er form of care is at the caregiver's house usu'ally in

the child's locality where a small group of children are cared

for together. This has been termed "family day care". The
caregIver nere IS Invarla01Y as eaucatea as tne motner or tne

child or has some education, and belongs to similar socio-

economic status. She can provide for the learning of various

cognitive and social skills in the child. Peer-group interaction

is also possible as at least about 5 to 10 children are admitted

at a time. Since family day care is at the residence of the

caregiver, a homelike environment is available for the child.

This centre is convenient for parents who travel long distances

to their place of work. Given these circumstances they are ill-

advised to take children to the creches available at their work-

place.

The alternatives seen so far are informal settings. With

increasing need, the difficulties faced by parents,

unavailability of any other forms of care, the terms and

conditions prevailing .at the work place, and especially so that

mothers with very young babies could also work, creches or day

care centres at the work place were set up. These day care

centres,' formally organized, were either run by private

individuals for a profit or by the employers free of cost or at a

subsidised cost, or by the employees themselves (through their

unions) on a no-profit no-loss basis, by the voluntary

organizations (financed by the governmerit under the scheme of

creches for working and ailing mothers) and some charitable

missionary organizations.

Day care centres or creches by virtue of being a centre for

group care can provide not only for peer-group interactions for
the learning of social skills and behaviour but also for
cogn1t1ve skills learning. The latter is a preparation for

school life. Even before day care centres came up, a need to

prepare the child for school life had arisen. To some extent the

efforts were being made by the preschools and nurseries to meet

this need. In the Indian situation there is a paradox,

especially in middle class homes. The substitute ,cares and even

the preschools are mainly providing a context for social

interactions but very few cognitive skills. Even with the best

of intentions, considering the overcrowding 1n nurseries and

preschools. the education sysie, will not be able to play an

adequate role. This stat~ of affairs will continue if

appropriate steps are not taken to set things right (Kurien,

1983; Konantamigi, 1987). When the education system 1S not

effective and the occupational world is extremely competitive,

the family or the community has to take over. The parents of the

child and family are playing this role too. The salience of the

family and parents as a factor in providing cognitive stimulation

and educating the child is to be realized. In spite of the

ineffectiveness of the formal education. the parents and the

community, because of the formal requirements of an education

have to depend on the institutions of education. This is the

paradox.

The day care centres or other substitute care forms, even if

they do not cater to the cognitive development and do not

formally promote sacial skills learning, they do give some kind

of care while the parents are at work. They give an opportunity

for social skills learning. For when children come together they

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are most likely to interact, organize themselves and engage in

play activities. If the caregiver is a caring and a loving

person, interested in the welfare of the child, a better

environment in which to spend most of the waking day is created.

If the management or sponsors of creches are more conscientious

persons and are aware of the need to develop the child in toto,

provisions for their cognitive, social and emotional development

will be made.

A few studies that have .been conducted in India regarding

satisfaction with substitute care show that parents are not

satisfied (Rani, 1984; NIPCDD, 1978; Mane, 1983). However, this

does not mean that substitute care quality is absolutely low.

Parents do want the best for their children.

In the context of low-income families, the role of day care

centres becomes one of also providing for the child's nutritional

and health needs. More involvement from the caregivers to

provide for stimulation also becomes imperative if the

development of the child is the concern.

The family and the day care centre or any substitute care
•
together can provide for all the developmental needs. of the

child. Co-ordination of the two is necessary. But in reality

the running of creches is not smooth. The sponsors of day care

do so half-heartedly. The quality of day I care centres vary

vastly. The caregivers may not be interested in the task of

child development in the true sense; they may be doing it half-

heartedly, as one would do any other job. In a day care job, the
consequences of such an attitude may be more serious. If there

is an interest in such a job. training and orientation courses

may help them to give their best to the child.

The rising maternal employment rate and the day care centres

that are coming up to support it warrant a study of their effect

on the development of children under such circumstances.

Concept of Day Care

Historical developments have shown that in majority of the

cases, day care facilities for children were established as part

of social welfare measures in India as eleswhere in the world.

These day c~re centres were expected to provide nutrition and

health facilities, especially in creches for children of low

income groups in India. If the day care services focus on these

aspects they will not be in a position to offer better services

in the direction of psychological development of the child. This

is due partly to lack of adequate resources, both in terms of

finances and appropriate personnel.

In India, especially from the people involved in social

welfare measures, day care ought to cater to health. nutrition

and educative needs of the child. Again, due to 1ack of

resources, appropriately qualified staff·is either inadequately·

employed or not employed at all (Gopal, 1983).

In the definition given by the United Nations, day care is,

"An organized service for the care of children away from their
own homes during some part of the day, when circumstances call
Lor IlurrnaL care In Lne nome LO De supplementeo" IUN/WHU, I,OJ,

p •9 ) •

This does not imply that day care provides for health and

nutrition services. Of course, there should be provision for

providing milk and the like but not necessarlly obliged to cater

to the total nutritional well-being and health of the child. The

parents, ~here there is a need, may be educated 'about the other

provisions that the government makes. For example, in India,

there are ICDS, Minimum Needs Programme, etc. These may be used

to provide nutritional and health needs and for parental

education. The creches and day care centres, howeve~, may

disseminate information regarding when and where the parents can

seek help for their children. This approach could be beset with

problems as another available scheme may not be close to the

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creche facility. Creches and day care centres should playa role

in shaping the psychological well-being of the child.

Depending upon the objectives and values prevailing in a

society, child care practices vary. In the U.S. with a

predominant capitalistic economy and individualised life style

more individual attention in child upbringing is expected. So

likewise their standards for creches insist on low child to care-

taker ratio. In an Israeli kibbutz or in Soviet Union the

care 1S residential. However, the parents are free to visit

their children as often as they want. This arrangement m~y be

helpful In fulfilling the objectives of fast economic growth,

community living and to instil similar ideals and values in

children. ... v

With further advancement in developmental research

especially in Europe and the United States, there has been an

emphasis on providing a stable, stimulating environment and to

give more freedom 6f expression to the child. For this purpose,

stability of care giver and his/her continuity of care, love and

affection and adequate toys and other materials to stimulate

their growth are expected to be given to the child. Experts have

set very high standards. Even in the United States, most day

care centres fall below the experts' expectations. and nor are

the standards same as they vary from State to State

(Guggenheimer. 1986; Katella, 1986).

Dayeare in India

Whether creches have been started half - heartedly or

willingly, day care in India has a history, albeit a short one.

Orphan and destitute homes for children and nursery schools

have been common features in India even before Independence.

..
The orpban and destitute homes were few and the latter were only

for the well-to-do population. The working and living conditions

of plantation and factory (labourers) workers were inad~quate and

unhealthy. Large number of women were employed especially in the

plantations. When they were at work which entails long hours,

there was usually nobody to look after their children. They were

grossly neglected. In the light of these conditions, the

Government of India passed the Factories Act, 1948, making it

compulsory for plantation, factory and other employers who
employed fifty or more women to provide for creche facilities for

their children. Specifications regarding setting up and running

of creche were also formed. The Plantation Labour Act was passed

in 1951. By 1966, there were 935 factory creches.

In 1961-62, a survey made by the Labour Bureau, Simla,

revealed that 91% of Tea, 37% of Rubber and 20% of Coffee

plantations were to have creches under the Plantation Labour Act,

1951. Only 74% of Tea, 33% of Rubber and 68% of Coffee

plantations had creches (Gopal, 1983). The number of creches in

non-coal mines in 1980-81 was 302 (Government of India, 1981).

These statistics do not give an accurate picture of the number of

creches required or the actual number existing.

Voluntary organizations, a few departments of the Government

of India and local bodies took initiatives in opening some

•
creches. The New Delhi Social Service League (aided by the New •
Delhi Municipal Committee - NDMC) started in 1948 a creche for

children of sweeper women working in private households. It was

closed after two years and the NDMC then organized a creche for

Harijan children at the Balmiki Colony. The welfare division of

the Central Government, on seeing the growth of creches on a

commercial basis decided to operate creches for its employees. . .A

beginning was made in 1968 and in three years, 14 such day care

centres were started (Gopal, 1983).

On seeing the plight of the children of construction

workers, Meera Mahadevan and friend~, with the s~ons6rship of -the

Gandhi Centenary Celebrations Committee. started the first Mobil~

,
 1"

Creche in March 1969. By 1970, three such creches were opened.

The Gandhi Centenary Celebrations Committee received offers to

start more such creches. The American Women's Club, the u.N.

Women's Association, the Indo-German Social Service Society, the

Christian Agency for Social Action (CASAl, the Brothers to All

Men an international organization engaged in providing mid-day

meals to children, the Ministry of Health, Government of India

and a host of individuals and organizations came to the aid of

Meera Mahadevan and associates. In 1972, a mobile creche was

started at Bombay. By 1972, there were 20 such creches at Delhi

(Ekalavya, 1976). By 1983, 30 creches were in operation at Delhi

and almost as many in Bombay (Gopal, 1983). In 1986-87, 24

centres were in operation in the Bombay-Pune sector (Mobile

Creches Annu~l, 1986-87).

In August 1974, the Government of India drew up the:

National Pol!cY for Children (Government of India, 1974). Under

this policy, providing creches to children of working and ailing

mothers was identified as a Qriority area.

The Ministry of Social Welfare, Government of India, by the

end of the Fourth Five Year Plan proposed to grant aid to

voluntary organizations to start creches for the children of

working and ailing mothers. This was spurred by the Wom~n's

Decade progr~mmes and other provisions made to women. From the

Fifth Plan onwards this aid was to be a continuing feature. In

1974 75, 10 organizations WRre given grant~ (totalling to

Rs.5.93 1akhsl and 247 creches were opened. Till 1977-78, the
Ministry of Social Welfare granted this aid. After 1977-78, the
 .LV

grants are being sanctioned by the Central Social Welfare Board.

By 1980-81, 822 organizations were aided and 4,398 creches were

in operation (Table 1.1l.

Table 1.1

Grants Released to Voluntary Organizations under

the Scheme of Creches for Ailing/Working Mothers

No.of Orga- No.of Amount No. of

Year : nizations : Creches Released : Beneficiaries
:(Rs. in Lakhs): to be Covered

1974-75 10 247 5.93 6, 175

1975-76 52 741 28.36 18,525

1976-77 73 762 25.00 19,050

1977-78 97 929 45. 25 23,225

1978-79 192 1 .385 50.00 34,625

1979-80 494 1,971 78.91 49,275

1980-81 822 4,398 168.90 1,09,950

1981-82 993 4,985 219.21 ,1,24,625

1982-83 1,040 5 ,616 303.18 1,40,400

1983-84 1 ,458 7,628 361.98 1,90,700

1984-85 1,752 7 ., 5 79 395.00 1,89,475

Source Government of india, (Ministry of Social Welfare )

1981; 1986. Handbook of Social Welfare Statistics,
----------------------,--------------
New Delhi: Government of India, Ministry of Social
Welfare, (Table 11.36; Table 11.33).

Under the Sixth Plan (1980-85), Rs. 9.75 crores w~re spent
on opening and maintaining creches, mostly through voluntary

organizations. In the Seventh Plan, the outlay has increased by

leaps and bounds to Rs.SO crores. The Government in its New

Education Policy of 1986, plans to expand and develop early

childhood care and education (ECCE) programmes on a large scale. •

ECCE includes balwadis, day care centres, pre-primary schools,

maternal and child health services. Their objectives are to

reach the down trodden (like casual labourers and other

communities not normally reached by any programme), to decrease

the child· - caregiver ratio and to adopt different models of

child care like horne-based, day care centre and family day care

centres (Ministry of Human Resources Development, 198b).

Functioning of the Creches

Creches in plantations are very poorly maintained with very

little basic necessities, unqualified staff or even understaffed

(high caretaker - child ratio), in make shift surroundings and

with very little stimulation provided to children. The attitudes

of employers towards providing day care facilities are mixed.

Some do 50 willingly, others have to be legally forced. To avoid

investing in creches, factories, do not employ women or keep the

number of women employees below 50. This could be the reason fo(

the decreasing number of factory creches at l~ast up to 1977

(Table 1.2). The ambivalent attitudes were evident among

contractors while Meera Mahadevan and associates set about

starting creches for construction workers -(Ekalavya, - Hal'le,1977;

Balagopal, personal communication)

 ... v

Table 1.2

Number Q! Factory Creches During the Years 1966 through 1982

Year Number Q! Creches

1966 935 •

196 7 943

1968 912

1969 940

1970 929

1971 761

1972 834

1973 847

1974 790

1975 789

1976 940

1977 790

1978 1 , 1 73

1979 1 , 21 ~

1980 1 , 127

1981 1,476'

1982 1 , 180

Source Modified from Government of India {Ministry of Social

Welfare) 1981; 1986: Handbook of Social Welfare Statistics.

New Delhi: Government of India, Ministry of Social Welfare

(Table 11.38; Table 11.35).

On the whole, the movement for creche for children of

working mothers in India has been one of social welfare venture.

They are largely a part of social welfare services.

Private day care centres, i.e., the day care centres run at

the residence of the care givers are coming up in the

metropolitan cities (Nakhate. 1987(b); Naidu, 1987; Observations ,

at Bangalore City by the researcher). Efforts are being made to

bring together family day care givers at Bombay and, to provide

them with knowledge and skills in managIng their centres

I
(Nakhate, 1987; Day Care Association, Bombay and its activities).

The creches in the unorganized sector are also coming to light,

Maternal Employment

Maternal employment is rising, In India 40% of the employed

women are in the child bearing age-group (ILO, 1986). Though all

may not seek out-of-home care for their children. this is some

indication of the need for substitute care.

Development of Day Care Centres in Europe and America

•
History of day care services elsewhere in the w~rld will

provide information on the nature of services provided, This in

turn will help to know what is expected of day care and the

possible effect it cquld have on the development

. of children.

The developments in day care are thus narrated in this section.

,.
The history of day care and nursery schools ot preschool

educa t ion are c 105 ely lillked, In earlier times, f 0 rmall y

organized -day-care services existed under different names, like

day-nurseries, creches and kindergartens. Such organizations
have existed for a long time. They were established in Sweden as

far back as 1834, Norway 1837 and in the United Kingdom in

1866. In 1844 the first creche for children for ~orking mothe~s

was established at Paris and the first one in America 1n 1854.

The one in America was started in collaboration with the Chitd's

Hospital of New York City. Experienced nurse-maids looked after

children aged from 15 weeks to 3 years. In the U.S.A. the

development of day care is also associated with the Civil War,

Depression and World War I I for different· reasons (Fein and

Clarke-Stewart, 1973). •

The care of children later extended to teaching children

proper habits, manners and orderliness. Around 1840 the concern

was with health and sanitation. But the approach, was mostly

pedagogic. Children were expected to eat their meals in silence,

and were marched about in line whenever the need to leave the

nursery arose. The approach was not just custodial 1n all

centres. There was concern for the child and other skills were

also taught. The approach remained regimental.

Development of a curriculum for day nurseries soon followed.

Existing theories of child develo~ment and child rearing

practices influenced the curriculum. Skills were taught with a

view to the future occupational possibilities or usefulne$s.

By the mid-ninteenth century the focus was on abandoned and

neglected children. Social welfare emphasis was present. Even

here the approach was not just custodial.

1880s and the 1890s were also the time ~hen immigrants from
 .. "
allover Europe came to America and settled in large cities.

These people were mostly poor people and included unwed mothers.

They were engaged in long hours of labour. Their children were

neglected and no proper care was provided. Robert Woods in 1§98

spurred the "settlement house movement". Day nurseries were then

set up. Tbe same year the Federation of Day Nurseries was
,
founded. It drew attention to day nurseries of p~or qualit~. In

1912 a survey revealed that nurseries were used only to 71%

capacity. In an interview study by Forest, some of the reasons

for it were that day nurseries were not located in areas

inhabited by them and that nurseries did not care for and educate

their children in a proper way (Fein and Clarke-Stewart, 1973,

p.IS).

With this, two contrasting views were simultaneously

suggested. The family and the virtues of the mother staying back
at home and ~ducating her child were exalted. In the other, the

mother and tbe family were thought to be inadequately equipped to

experts in tbe field.

The exalted status that the mother had acquired in 1820 was

totally undermined by 1920. This was the period when preschool

education got prominence. This education also had middle and

upper-middle class bias.

Denmark and Czechoslavakia set up a national day care

system. Professionals put forth standards for child care and the

local community group was appointed as the agency to see that

standards were met (Gopal,1983).
•
During the World Wars, daycare centres had come up in the

U.S.A. After the Wars ended and the men had come home, the

Government thought that women would stop working and resume their

house-wifely duties. But women wanted to be active members of

the labour force. Ever since then, various child and women

welfare organizations are pressurizing the Federal Gove~nment and

local bodies for support to establish more day-care centres for

children of working mothers (Guggenheimer, 1986).

Different States within the U.S.A. have different standards

for day care facilities and some insist on having licences while

others have ~nly registration systems. Requirement of a licence

and being registered is becoming more and more necessary in the

U.S.A. due to rising rates of child abuse (Katella, 1986). While

new innovations in day care facilities, like creches. at work

places, family day care, etc., are seen they are not adequate and

do not fulfill all the needs. Whenever policy issues are to be

decided, the Federal Government passes the reponsibility to the

State and the private organizations. The parents and non-profit

child care organizations seem to be carrying the burden. On the

one hand, safety and adequate development of the child

n~cessitates setting up of procedural regulations and standards

of maintenance. Some fear that these strictures may scare off

people who want to start child care centres (Katella, 1986). The

Reagan administration cut down heavilY on funds for child care.

Day Care and Developmental Issues

 25

Maternal employment outside the home, it was conjectured

would have a deleterious effect on the development of the child.

The reasoning being that it implied mother child separations

through the day, an employed mother faced role strain as she

. had

to perform multiple roles, and that a non-maternal person could

not provide the same nurturing love, affection and security.

'I
Disruption in mother-child bonding and lack of constant maternal

supervision were seen to result in delinquent problemmatic

behaviour or have other adverse effects on the child IS

development. Separations due to maternal employment were likened

to maternal deprivation. However, today the opinions and

attitudes are undergoing changes (perry, Jr., 1963; Hoffman,

196 3 ; 1979; Etaugh, 1980; Ainsworth, 1980). A child is

considered neglected or deprived based on the inputs she receives

for growth and development than on maternal employment or

substitute care attendance per se (Perry, Jr., 1967; 1963; Belsky

and Steinberg, 1978).

When maternal employment and substitute care started

•
increasing, the attitudes of society towards these lssues were

shaped by developments in psychoanalytic theories of Freud and

others and the social learning theories. This was around the

1920s in Europe. These attitudes were carried over to the •

Americas and later disseminated to other countries through the

study of Western literature and social sciences.

Psychoanalytic interpretations later gave way to other

 26
analyses. These have been based on the tenets of role-theory and

currently the eclectic theory, Jerome Kagan's (1984)

phi1osopbico-psycho social premise and Bronfenbrenner (1979;

1986) , Gamble and Zigler's (1986) ecological perspective.

Rejection of the psychoanalytic interpretations by the majority,

growth of psycho-social theories, the immense concern of the

social scientists in general and the psychologists in particular,

the anxiety 'of the working parents all led to extensive, in-depth

research on the effects of maternal employment and substitute

care on child development. A presentation of the theoretical

tenets will be followed by a review of empirical studies to

examjne the effects on children's development.

The Theoretical Tenets;

The Psychoanalytic Influence

Freud's theory of psychosexual development emphasized the

importance of the mother-child bond (Freud, 1935; 1936). This

would provide continuity of security and promote emotional

development in the child. Mother-child separations would instil

a sense of loss of the basic person in life, which would later

produce an anxious insecure person, Maternal neglect that would

result from maternal employment could also produce delinquent

r children. Parental figures are of paramount importance in the

development of the superego.

Fi'ndings of ethological studies also SIlPported the Freudian

premise. According to the former there are critical periods in

development which require certain environment and nurturing from
 27

the parent for optimum development. Failure to provide this

could distort growth and compensations at a later date could not

reverse the damage done. •

However, neo-Freudians, like Erikson (1950; 1967) with

cognitive and social components in the theory helped dispel the

•
Freudian tenets. Moreover, critical learning theory draws
heavily from research on lower forms of life. ractors affecting

the development of homo-sapiens could be entirely different.

Role Theory

The basic premise of classical role theory is that when an

individual has to play two or more roles, each making

incompatible demands not only is there role strain for the person

involved, but role-effectiveness is reduced as well. This, the

critics of maternal employment feel, is what happens with working

mothers who have to play the roles of an employee at the work-

place, wife and mother at home. If there are other individuals

in the family, many other roles are to be played .s well. There

are empirical studies to prove role-strain (Kapur, 1970; Rani,

1984; Mane, 1983; Ranade and Ramchandran, 1970). Mothering, the

role-theorists say, needs a lot of time and investment, which an

employed mother cannot give. Maternal neglect will have adverse

effects on the development of the child.

The counter arguments which have come up against role-

theory may be termed the neo-classical role-theory. Yarrow, •

Scott, deLeeuw and Henig (1962), Hoffman (1979; 1963), Lerner and
Galambos (1985) are of the view that for a mother, whether
employed or not, the effectiveness of the mothering role depends

upon her satisfaction in the non-mothering roles. A woman who is

willingly working is a better mother than a woman who is

unwillingly working. So also the case with a non-working mother.

Moreover, coping with different role demands could vary from

person to person.

The Eclectic View-point

The eclectic view-point has been well expressed and studied

by Easterbrooks and Goldberg (1985). They are of the view that

as per the demands of the situation, parents and the child

improvise and make adjustments, and effectively too. This

depicts the evolutionary stance. According to, the theory of

evolution, changes and adjustments are, invariably, for the

better:'

Views of Jerome Kagan

The views of Jerome Kagan (1984) are like a home-truth but

not recognised earlier by the public, parents. and even the social

scientists who perceive maternal employment and day care to have

deleterious effects on the development of children. According to

Kagan with the rise in industrialization and urbanization in the

European and American societies, the close loyalties between men

became weaker, due to rising mobility, more competitive

relationships and moral relativism. There was. then, a search

for an ideal state of commitment, a relationship oi mutual love,

unquestioned devotion and one of pleasantness. The only

relationship left to sanctify was the mother-child relationship.
 29
With women entering the labour force. even this sanctimonious

value and sentiment was taken away from human life. That is why

Kagan feels, society is against the concept of women leaving home

and the resulting mother-child separation. These values are

passed on to and are reflected in the attitudes of the social

scientists too.

Kagan (1984) further says, the preoccupation of society and

sometimes of the social scientists too, 15 not with what

consequences this could have on the development of the child, but

with giving all the attention to the child and making her the

focus of life. The concern is with exalting the maternal role

investment. In many cultures child upbringing is seldom done by

the mother alone. It is always the older siblings who have also

been undertaking this duty. Class distinctions in who does the

child rearing have always existed. With substitute care, mother-

child bonding is not disrupted. The child knows who her parents
-
are. The allegiance to parents is high. This is reinforced in

the child's social world, The combined forces of biology and

learning are strong.

The Ecological Model

Bronfenbrenner (1979) in a well elaborated thesis on

"ecology of human development" has explained and listed the

different contexts, their interaction and relationship to

development. According to Bronfenbrenner (1979,p.21), "the

ecology of human development involves the SCientific study of the

progressive, mutual accomodation between an active growing human

•
 3U

being and the changing properties of the immediate settings in

which the developing person lives, as this process is affected by

relations between these settings, and the larger contexts in

which the settings are embedded". Bronfenbrenner (19B6) has also

applied this premlse to the day care and home care settings . •

Gamble· and Zigler (1986) have further elaborated on this

tenet. They are of the view that lack of familial stress,

quality of family care and day care are predictors of children's.

development. They propose an additive model (in the absence of

family stress) which implies that if one setting of development

is of poor quality, it is compensated by the other. Howe\rer, the

researcher is of the opinion that family care setting is a

significant variable inflUencing child development especially in

the Indian context. Outside influences are purportedly high, but

in reality it is the home that is significantly contributing to

development.

Review of Empirical Research

Empirical research on the effects of maternal employment and

day-care on children in India is very scanty. Majority of the

studies reported are from the U.S.A. This review is undertaken

with the assumption that, at least some, if not all factors

affecting the development of children will be universally

applicable. All human growth, even across cultures,are likely to

•
show similiarities. Admittedly, social, cuI tural and.

environmental influences could be different. Indian studies

wherever available on maternal employment and day-care are

aescrloea.

The study of literature is persued from 19605 onwards.

Research done be fore this period, ignored the family

characteristics or the problems and stress that they underwent

(Hoffman, 1963). The outcomes of the poor designs were such that

working mother's children were seen to be adversely affected.

Review of research is undertaken with a Vlew to study the

various factors of family (home) care and day-care centres and

their relationship to development in children. Wherever research

data is available, a projection is presented for effects on

adolescents and if possible in later life. Ii developmenta1

perspective is the attempted goal.

Family stress and development of children

Families in poverty groups or very low socia-economic status

(SES) are likely to be having financial problems. ParentI' are

barely eking out a living. When survival is the issue, parents

cannot provide adequately for the development of their children.

Family or the mother of the child can be assumed to be under

further stress if she is divorced or separated

, from the husband/

father of the child. due to his desertion death or suffering from

•
a fatal disease. Alcoholic or drug 'addicted fathers also disrupt

normal family functioning. These family stresses do not permit

the parents to stimulate their children's growth and

development.

A review of the studies of the 19405 and the 19505 had shown
 3 ,~)...

that matern~l employment led to delinquency and other adverse

effects on cilildren (Hoffman, 1963). These studies, it was l~ter

found, were confounded by the stressful family background of

children and adolescents, largely due to broken homes caused by

divorce and separation.

Nye (1963) studied the adjustment of 2326 adolescent

children in grades 9 to 12. SES, family size, maternal

education, rural/urban residence were the variables controlled.

School performance, psychosomatic symptoms, and relationship of

affection to the mother appeared unrelated to maternal employment

status. There was a small association between employment and

delinquent behaviour. But on analyses, after controlling for

intactness of family it was found to be related to the broken

•
horne condition.

55 toddlers aged 11 to 30 months were studied by Howes and

Stewart (1987) to determine the influence of family (horne) and

day care characteristics on child's play with adults, peers and

toys. Families who nurtured more and had more social support

were aSSOCiated with high quality care. More restrictive and'

stressed families were associated with low quality care. The

latter were also associated with more changes in child care

arrangements which in turn were associated with low levels of

competitive play with objects and peers.

In a sample of 33 children and their families, Main and

Cassidy (1988) assessed mother-child attachment using Ainsworth

"Strange Situation"* and life stresses and parent-child (one

year aIds) relationship. Similar measures were obtained when the

children were about 6 years old. The findings show that long-

term parent child attachments depend more upon the absence of

life-stresses and experiences and the quality of relationship

than the change that either the parent or the child undergo.

Socio-economic status and development of children :

Socio-economic status includes the physical facilities and

amenities the family possesses, family income and education of

the .parents. All these directly influence the quality of care

the child receives. This has been considered a major variable in

all social science research as it influences

•
varied aspects of

people's lives.

Studies reviewed for this section are discussed under

cognitive and academic achievements and socia-emotional

development in children.

•
'Ainsworth Strange Situation is a laboratory simulated technique

to study the attachment behaviour of toddlers with mothers. This

technique is appropriate for children aged two and below.

Attachment to mother has been classified as anxious-avoidant when

the child exhibits anxious behaviour her absence and avoids

proximity on encountering her-and secure when the child does not

exhibit anxious behaviour in her absence and seeks her proximity

• •
when she is available.

Cognitive and academic achievemFnts

 3~

A sample of 23 home reared children and 18 enrolled in day

care centreS and from low SES formed the sample of Caldwell,

Wright, Honig and Tennanbaum's (1970) study. The mean age of

children wa~ 2 to 5 years and they had been attending day care

for 1 to 5 years. Day care did not have negative effects on

socio-emotional development, but had a positive effect on their

cognitive development. So was the case in Robinson and

Robinson's (1971) study, Kagan, Kearsley and Zelago's (1979),

Sinha's (1979; c.f: Naidu and Nakhate, 1985) and Cherry and

Eaton's (1977) studies'. Robinson and Robinson's (1971)

was a longitudinal one, and extended over a period of 2.5 years.

19 infants (admitted in day care between 2 and 5.5 months of

age) and 12 vreschoolers formed the sample.

Kagan, Kearsley and Ze1ago's (1979) longitudinal study

covered (N=116) two ethnic groups, two classes of SES and day
,
care. home care and mixed care and children
, aged 3.5 to 30

months of age. Low SES day care children performed better on

concept formation index with no difference between Caucasian and

middle class Chinese children. The home environment was more

facilitating with home reared children scoring higher than day

care children. This study highlights the importance of a

facilitating environment for the group of children concerned, 'be

it the home or day care.

Cherry and Eaton (1977) conducted a longitudinal study on

200 low income families (the sample ilightly decreased at the end
.
of 8 years). They assessed the impact of maternal employment in
the first three years of the child's life; a eight year follow up

was maintained and the comparisons for children of working and

non-working mothers were made on weights, heights and measures

like I.Q., reading, arithmetic and spelling achievements. There

were no significant differences between children of employed and

non-employed mothers when controlled for maternal variables (age,

education, work status, etc.). 30 differences in outcomes were

found, out of which 27 favoured children of working mothers.

Crowding had a deleterious effect on the heights, weights as well

the performance of children.

Sinha's (1979 : C.F: Naidu and Nakhate, 1985) sample (N=IOO)

covered children aged 6 to 12 years of educated part-time and

full-time employed women. Measures of concept development in the

children who were in school were markedly better. The mother's

employment condition whether part-time or full-time did not make

a difference to the children's cognitive development. The

importance of environmental stimulation is highlighted since the

sample covered a low SES. However, reactions and responses to

deprivation are to an extent unpredictable. There is some

,
evidence that intellectual and cognitive sub-systems growth in an

individual are less influenced by variations in environment and

more by internal factors (Jensen, 1983; Kagan and Klein, 1973).

Piotrokowski and Katz (1982) studied the effect of mothers

employment on the academic behaviours of children 1n low SES,

black families. The sample comprised of children in the age

range of 10 to 17 (mean age = 12.8 years). The nature of

mother's employment, job autonomy and skill utilization were
 00

positively associated with academic behaviours. the findings of

this study indicate that relatively, a specific relationship may

exist between the employment condition of parents and aspects of

children's behaviour at school.

Cheng and Chau's (1984) pilot study (which was part of a

project on cross-cultural study) examined the influence of

different types and care-taking styles and their relationship to

development. The caretaking forms considered extended were

family care, individual paid care, group and mother care (group

care is day-centre care). These children (N=46), aged 3 years

belonged to four geographical locations also indicating their

SES. Naturalistic observations in simulated conditions formed the

main mode of assessing children. Mother - child interactions,

caregivers-child interactions, productions on dough - play and

skill in problem-solving tasks did not vary in the four care~

taking forms. SES and educational levels contributed to

differences in these aspects. Irrespective of who the caregiver

was, the mother played the key role in making decisions about the

child's development. This study shows that maternal employment

does not imply low investment by the mother an the child's

development and welfare.

In the high SES, with mothers being • educated, the

stimulation and facilities provided and fathers' involvement in

the child's upbringing was higher .as compared to the groups ·in

which mothers' education levels more lower. The latter

emphasized traditional academic abilities In reading, writin~ and

memory, but no facilitation was provided. Differences In the
three groups of children to read and write English, Chinese and

numbers existed, More children from the two lower SES groups

were unable to read, write and count at all.

Socia-emotional development

In Nye's (1963) study when SES was controlled, socio-

emotional development was not related to adjustme~t in

adolescents of working mothers.

Burchinal (1963) on a sample of 1660 adolescents in seventh

and eleventh grades analysed the personality differen~es on a

measure akin to the Minnesota Test of Personality Measure.

Socio-economic and demographic variables were controlled,' On the

whole there were no detrimental effects on the personality of

children due to maternal employment, If any adverse impact had

been present during the preschool years, they were not evident.

Any correlations of adverse effects that existed vanished when

the data was controlled for SES factors. This has been borne out

larentalattitudes, perceptions and marital role satisfaction

~----------------------------------------------------- -------

It has been seen earlier how the mother's multiple roles

adversely affect her contribution to child development due to the

involved role-strain. The intensity of this role-strain, how she

•
and the other family members perceive maternal employment and day

care, whether she wants to work and is satisfied with it, will

all determine mothering behaviour. Assumption behind this

permise is that happy mothers produce happy children. Their

 38

feelings, anxieties and attitudes are passed on to the children .

•

In am empirical study on child-rearing in families of

working and non-working mothers, Yarrow, Scott, deLeeuw, and

Henig (1962), state that mothers fulfillments are related to

child-rearing. When mothers' motivations regarding working are

taken into consideration, the non-working mothers who are

dissatisfied by not working (i.e. who want to work but out of a

feeling of "duty" do not work) show the greatest problems In

child-rearing. They also scored Iowan "adequacy of mothering".

The data on educational groups suggests that maternal employment

brings different kinds of familiar adaptations depending on the

value systems of the particular cultural sub-groups in which the

mother is combining mother and worker roles,

Hoffman (1963) matched 65 working mothers who liked their

work and 65 non-~orking mothers who liked work and 23 working

mothers who did not like their work with 23 non-working mothers.

Data was collected from various sources -(questionnaires,

interviews with mothers, teachers' ratings of the children and a

class-room sociometric) to match groups and study the impact of

mothers liking or not liking work. The overall pattern of

findings suggests that the working mother who likes working is

relatively high on positive effects toward the child, uses mild

discipline and tends to avoid inconveniencing the child with

household tasks; the child is relatively non assertive. The

Working mother who rljslikes working on the other hand, seems less

involved with the child; obtains help from the child on house-
hold tasks; the child is assertive and hostile. This, according
to Hoffman indicates that guilt on the part of the mother

interferes with the effective performance of the mother role, or

that "happier women produce happier children". General

differences between children of employed and non employed mothers

did emerge, but on analysis it revealed that enjoyment or

satisfaction of the work role mattered more.

Powell (1963) analysed the effects of maternal employment

and attitudes toward child rearing on children from pre-school,

elementary and higher grades. The sample comprised of 172

•

working and non working mothers. The results revealed that there

are no significant relationships between maternal employment and

attitudes of mothers towards child rearing at any time in the

life cycle. Yet, there was a tendency for the non-working mother

to have more favourable attitudes toward child rearing than

working mothers.

Lerner and Galambos (1985) in a review of literature prior

to reporting their study concluded that there 1S consistent

evidence that maternal role satisfaction is the mediating

variable between maternal employment and ch1ld development/child

adjustment. They have reported a longitudinal study initiated in

1960 of children of employed and non-employed mothers from one

month of age to adulthood. Interview data at the time wheh the

child was three years of age has been utilized. The sample

consisted of 51 children of non-employed mothers and 38 children

of employed mothers from middle and upper middle claSSes and

majority from intact homes. Objective descriptions of children's

behaviours were obtained. Data revealed that the relation
between maternal role satisfaction and child outcomes may be

supported by mother-child interaction. The analyses also

demonstrates that neither early child difficulty nor role

satisfaction significantly relates to later difficulty. Highly

dissatisfied mothers have high levels of rejection and, in turn,

more difficult children.

Chassin, Zeiss, Cooper and Reaven's (1985) study also

reveals the same. In their study two types of conflicts were

evident, conflict between men's and women's expectations of the

spousal and parental roles (intra-role conflict) and conflict

among the demands of multiple roles (inter-role conflict).

Moreover congruence between self-characteristics and role demands

were related to marital satisfaction and t~ the stability of the

dual worker structure after a one year follow-up.

Easterbrooks and Goldberg's (1985) study obtai~ed the

perceptions of their subjects on the impact of maternal

employment. Among employed women and their husbands, 68% of

mothers and 7~% of the fathers stated that maternal employment

had entirely positive effects on mother child relationships, 6%

of the mothers and 22% of the fathers stated no effects, and 26%

of the mothers and 4% of the fathers a combination of positive

and negative effects. Among non employed women and their

husbands, 63% of mothers and 61% of fathers stated negative

effects, 20% of mothers and 26% of fathers expected positive

effects and 17% of mothcrs and 13% of fathers a combin-atiou of

the two, The perceived impact on father-child relationship was

similar amongst employed and non-employed mothers. Maternal
perceptions according to these authors would go a long way in

influencing mother-child interactions and maternal role

satisfaction§.

Similar findings have been reported by Bronfenbenner,

Alvarez and ~enderson (1984). In their study on whether mother's

work situation influences parent's perception of their 3 year old

children (N~152, white, two-parent families) it was found toat,

if the motner was employed she painted the least flattering

picture of her son and the most flattering of her daughter. ~his

was also true if the mothers had more than a high-sco ool
,
education. The same was true of fathers whose responses were

obtained independently. Responses were also controlled for-

extraneous influences from demographic factors and generalized

response set~.
•

McBride a~d Belsky's (1988) study is a short-term longitudinal

•
one. Mother$ (N=63) were interviewed and administered scales to

determine the characteristics and indicators of mat~rnal anxiety

prior to the birth of their children. These scales were again

administered at 3 and 9 months of the infants' ages, in addition

to determining the consequences of maternal separation through

the strange situation. Non-working mothers and their children

were also paft of the sample. It was found that in the employed

mothers' grOUP. high maternal separation anxiety was related to

•
secure attachment with infants. Mothers who were explicitly

anxious about balancing employment and maternal roles may be more

sensitive to their children's experience and related to them in

security promoting and sensitive ways. Such women were likely to
choose the best quality care available. In another study that

McBride and Belsky quote, personality and maternal separation

anxiety were related to the quality of care that mothers chose.

McBride and Belsky conclude that, " .... correlates of care may be
•
more a function of maternal and family processes than of the

child-care experience per se" (1988, p. 407).

Studies in India have revealed that women face conflict in

managing the dual roles. Most of them do not get cooperation

from their husbands, though situation is changing slowly. While

they do not object to their wives working, they are usually not

satisfied with substitute care arrangements which were us uall y

with relatives, in-laws or servants, rarely in creches (Kapur,

1970; Ranade and Ramchandran, 1970; NIPCCD, 1978; Mane, 1983;

Talwar, 1984; Hemalatha and Suryanarayana, 1983). Given the

cultural milieu where mostly urban and middle class women work-

only when it is absolutely necessary and where the norm IS for

women to stay at home, maternal employment and substitute care

could adversely affect the development of children. albeit

indirectly,

Hemalatha and Suryanarayana's (1983) study on 150 employed

women from Tirupathi in Andhra Pradesh amongst teachers, clerks

and hospital workers (including doctors) revealed the following:

62% of them worked for economic reasons, 36% received help from

husbands in household work, 85% had problems in child care, 89.3%

like their jobs and only. 10.7% reported that they were interested

in working but were disinterested in the present job.

Talwar (1984) in a study of employed women on the important
effects of maternal employment on children reported 45.6%

negative effects, 18.7% positive effects, 8.1% both positive and

negative effects and 27.6% reported no effects. The aspects

identified as negative were that children will not get

attention, they have to bear the burden of housework, they are

deprived of an education,
, exhibit anti-social behaviour symptoms

and withdrawing behaviour. The positive effects identified were

that children got better food stuffs, better education, child

felt independent and self-reliant, felt proud of mother's

employment, got inspiration to achieve something in life. It

increased cooperation in the family and they could afford better

recreational and health facilties. The women were not satisfied

with substitute care arrangements from relatives, neighbours

I
friends, servants, older siblings and in some cases, they were

either left on their own or the mothers took, them along to the

place of work. Wome~ also felt that they spent less time with

their children and families.

The Madras School of Social Work (1970) study ~xamined

maternal employment effect on child care and parental attitudes.

800 working mothers, 50 non-working mothers, 50 husbands each of

working non-working women formed the sample. Certain aspects

studied here are akin to those in Easterbrooks and Goldberg's

(1985) study. About one-sixth of the working mothers and one-

third of their husbands perceive maternal employment to have

adverse effects on children's studies. Substitute careforms used

were support from relatives and servants. During children's

illness, mothers with relative care were not anxious about care
of their children. In most working mother families they

themselves carried out most of the child care activities

irrespective of help available at home. Majority of husbands of

employed women favoured their wives working and welcomed the

changes it brought about in contrast to the non-working women's

husbands. $0 was the case in the attitude of the relatives of

these two groups towards maternal employm~nt. •

Maternal employment and its effects on children

The rationale for and against maternal employment have

already been examined. The psychoanalytic tradition, classical

role-theory, critical learning theory and the need for an ideal

relationship, are not in favour of maternal employment. Emerging

social learning theories, the neo-classical role-theory and the

. eclectic'view points are in favour of maternal employment. Some

of these are reflected in the empirical studies that follow .

• Research on maternal employment and its effects on children

has been substantial. Effects on various aspects like socio-

emotional and cognitive development, academic achievement and

adjustment and personality development have been ·explored.

However, their findings are divergent. Some studies favour

working mothers children and others; non-working mothers'

children. These opposing results are reported separately for

different aspects of development.

Socio-emotional development
 Such siu~les may be broadly classified into t~o groups (a)

mother-infant/child attachment (b) social and emotional

behaviours.

Though research outcomes on mother-child attachment studies

are mixed some distinction can be made. Some studies

(Ainsworth, 1980; Ainsworth, Behar, Waters and Wall, 19 78;

Vaughan, Gave and Egeland, 1980; Cummings, 1980) show that day

long separations between mother and child have adverse effects on

mother child bonding resulting in anxious behaviour and proximity

seeking behaviour vis-a-vis the mother. As ~entioned earlier

these studies utilize the "strange situation" technique or

variations of it developed by Ainsworth and colleagues.

Vaughan, Gave and Egeland (1980), studied a sample of

infants whose mothers had resumed employment before the child's

first birthday, those who resumed b~tween 12-18 months of the

child's age and mothers who had not used any form of out-of-home

care before 18 months. Ainsworth Strange Situation was used.

The results showed that a higher proportion (47%) of infants in

anxious-avoidant group were from mothers who had resumed work in

the first year of the child's life. At 18 months, 41% of the

babies from the early-work group of mothers were still in the

anxious-avoidant group. Analyses also showed that single mothers

returned to work early. Working mothers had a higher level of

life stress than non-working mothers and at 18 months, anxious-

avoidant and anxious-resistant attachments were associated with

non-intact families.
Cummings (1980) found that children of employed mothers
 16

preferred stability in caregivers in the day care situation. In

the laboratory situation they preferred the proximity of the

mothers and became upset if left alone with the caregiver.

In a study on maternal employment effects on toddlers

(N=73), Easterbrooks and Goldberg (1985) report no significant.

differences between maternal employment st~tus and mother-toddler

and father-toddler attachment. 86% of the sample reported secure

attachments between mother-toddler and 65% between toddler-

father.

For studies concerning social behaviours involving

adolescents, the outcomes were again mixed.

,
In studies favouring daughters of working mothers, Douvan

(1963) reports that adolescent daughters with home maker mothers

had fared the worst academically and socially. Daughters of part

time employed mothers fared the best socially and academically,

followed by daughters of full time employed mothers. In Marantz

and Mansfield (1977) and Pasquali and Callegari's (1978) studies'

daughters of employed mothers had lower sex-rol~ streotypes than

non-employed mothers daughters. Daughters of working mothers in

Gold and Andres' 1978) investigation had more egalitarian sex-

role concepts than girls of non-working mothers.

There are a host of studies that have found no differenes

between children of working and non-working mothers' and between

that of day care and non-day care (Nye, Perry Jr and Ogles 1963;

Siegpl, et al., 1963; Moore, 1963; Easterbrooks and Goldberg,

1985) .
Nye, Perry Jr and Ogles' (1963) study had a well selected
sample of 104 full-time employed mothers, 104 non-working mothers
•
and 82 mother substitutes. Interview technique was adopted for

data collection. Attempts were made to match the children of

working and non-working mothers on ecological and demographic

va r1 ab 1 es. Analyses revealed that there are no significant

differences between the two groups of children. According to the

researcher, the items selected as representing "anti social

behaviour" are questionable since most of them appear to be

normal for children of 3 to 5 years of age. Withdrawal

tendencies and nervous symptoms have been represented better.

Moore (1963) reports thus after a follow-up longitudinal

study of 167 preschool children of both employed and non-employed

mothers. In favourable circumstances, i.e., with a good

substitute mother or a well run nursery school and if the child

spent part of the day there, after age three he could grow up

Without any obvious ill-effects and there may be benefits in some

cases in the form of increased independence and decreased

anxiety. Moore did not test the permanence of these effects.

Siegel et al (1963), after matching for duration of mothers'

employment, family size, intactness of family, occupational level

of fathers could obtain only 26 matched pairs , of kindergarten

children with mean ages 68.2 months and 67.7 months in working

mothers'· and non-working mothers' groups respectively, from 17

schools of an urban city. Questionnaires and obseravation

techniques were used and the reliability of the measures

reported. Observations were made of behaviour systems,

aggression, self-reliance, sociability, submissiveness and
succourance. On the whole, significant differences between the

children of employed and non-employed mothes did not exist with

two exceptions. Children of working mothers scored higher on

fldominance" than children of non-working mothers. When

segregated for sex, non-working mothers' girls scored higher on

interaction with adults than girls of working mothers.

Easterbrooks and Goldberg (1985) report that non-employed

mothers were warmer or held warmer attitudes then mothers

employed full time. They were also more strict than the part

time group, but there were no significant group differences on

encouragement of independence, aggravation attitudes nor on

behavioural sensitivity.

Studies by Roy (1963), Schachter (1981) and Venkatramanna

(1987) favours children of emplaxed mothers. In Ray's (1963)

study delinquency in children did not increase as a result of

maternal employment. Rural children of employed mothers were

found to manifest less delinquency than those of non-employed

mothers. The other measures of affection, fairness of

discipline, democracy and cooperation as received by sons and

daughters in the family, indicate that rural children of employed

mothers scored higher and thus benefited from maternal

employment.

Schachter's (1981) observational study revealed that

employed mothers' toddlers were likely to initiate approaches to

peers. Non-employed mothers girls were more likely to initiate

speech to teachers than peers. Employed mothers' group was

significantly more self-reliant and the non-employed mothers

group was more jealous.

In Venkatramanna's (1987) study the relationship between

employment status and interaction with children has been e.xamined

(Nl~99; N2~98). Employed mothers had significantly more positive

interactions with their children. This finding is part of a

larger study where personality trait differences between

employment status and within employment groups was studied.

Employed women were most often significantly on the side of the

positive traits of Catell's 16 PF Questionnaire.

Cognitive development

As compared to the amount of research on mother child

separation and other socia-emotional aspects of development,

research on cognitive development is scanty. Two major studies

in this regard show that there are no significant differences

between children of employed and non-employed mothers. Cherry

and Eatons (1977) longitudinal study is one such. Farel (1980)

studied the effect of maternal role preferences, maternal

employment and socia-demographic status on schooJ adjustment "and

competence of children. Wechsler's Preschool and Preprimary

Scale of Intelligence were also used. The sample comprised 212

school children and their mothers out of whom 88 were employed

full-time and 19 part-time. When controlled for SOCIO-

demographic variables. no significant differences were found

between children of working and non-working mothers.

Personality development

•
 50

As in the case earlier referred of social behaviours studies

linked to maternal employment, personality development studies

favour daughters of working mothers and sons of non-working

mothers.

Nye's (1963), Burchinal's (1963) and Nolan's (1963) studies

reveaJed no differences between children of working and non-

working mothers.

Independence and achievement

This section will focus on the manifestation of independence

and achievement behaviours, especially in school as a result of

maternal employment/non-employment. Yet again, the results

favour daughters of part-time and full-time working mothers in

that order and sons of non-employed mothers. Class differences

in outcomes also existed. Cherry and Eaton (1977) and Farel,

(1980) studies reveal no differences between children of working

and non-working mothers.

Roy (1963) has compared rural/urban samples of adolescents

(grades 9 and 10) of working (Nl-128) and non-working mothers

(N2-175). Questionnaires were administered to adolescents. One

of the findings suggests that maternal employment does not

generally lower academic performance or aspirations of children.

But rural/urban differences eXisted; rural children of employed

mothers fared betLer academically and had higher aspirations

compared to urban children. Powell's (1963) study on a sample of

27 mothers and their children (ages 9, 10, II and 12) revealed
 at
111111111111111111111111111\
076608

that maternal employment and achievement motivation in children

are positively correlated but nat affiliation and power motives.

These motives were measured through the Children's Apperception

Test and Thematic Apperception Test. Children with employed

mothers had higher scores on achievement than children of non-

employed mothers at age nine.

Brown (1970) found .that for sons of white collar families

whose mothers are employed, maternal employment was significantly

related to the sons' occupational mobility.

Piotrakoski and Katz' (1982) study revealed that the nat~re

of mother's employment, job autonomy and skill utilization • were

positively associated with academic behaviours. The findings of

this study indicate that relatively specific relationship may

exist between the employment conditions of parents and aspects of

children's behaviour at school.

Gold and Andres' (1978) study of maternal employment effects

an the academic achievement of 10 year old Canadian children

(N=223) revealed that boys of middle class working mothers scored

significantly lower than • boys from middle class non-working

mothers' families on mathematics and language achievement tests.

In Cherry and Eaton's (1977) study mentioned earlier, there

were no significant differences between children of working and

non-working mother, after a 8 year follow-up on weights,

measures, I.Q., reading, arithmeti~ and spelling achievement.

Maternal variables like age, education and work status were

determinants of 27 outcomes and th.y favoured working mothers
children.

Apart tram no differences between working and non-working

mothers' •
children on Wechsler's intelligence, differences "ere

not found on measures of school achievement and competence in

Farel's (1980) study.

Poresky and Whitsitt (1985) report that qaughters with home-

maker mothers had significantly higher scores on motivation to

achieve tha~ daughters of full-time or part-time employed

mothers. Douvan's (1963) findings were slightly different.

Daughters of part time employed mothers fared the best (both

academically and sociallY), followed by daughters of mother

employed ful~ time and then by daughters of non-working mothers.

Day care qua~ity and development in children

------------~-------------------------------

Researc» on the quality of day-care and its effects on the

child is aiso vast. This variable is discussed in . context, of

studies are ~ide1y divergent and inconclusive.

Socio-emotio~a1 development
---------------------------
The first part of the studies reported in this section

pertain to mother-child separations and the resulting

consequences, The latter part refers to studies on other aspects

of socia-emotional development.

Empiric~l research by Faren and Ramey (1977), Ragozin (1980)

 and Roopnarine and Lamb (1977) show no differences or no harm in

the mother-infant / child attachments due to daily separations.

23 black day-care children (only 9 children went back to their

parents, others were staying with relatives or family friends)

aged 9 to 31 months were observed for attachment behaviours by

•
Faren and Ramey (1977). Children in the cont&ived situation

preferred the mother to the teachers. They also preferred to

stay near the mother and interact with her and she was perceived

as the helpful person in a problemmatic or stressful situation.

Ragozin (1980) also found few differences between day-care

(NI=14) and horne reared children (N2=14) There waS a preference

for the mother in naturalistic situations. Attachments heightened

day long separations and the developmental trend of movements

•
from proximal interactions to distal interactions by three years

of age were observed. But in the "strange situation" day-care

children interacted less with the stranger. Ragozin concludes

that day care is compatible with patterns of attachment

behaviours.

Roopnarine and Lamb (1977) in a short term I longitudinal

study on children of day-care (NI=12) and horne care (N2=11),

showed that day-care experience does not have predictable adverse

psychosocial effects on children. The children (mean age = 3.1

years) were observed a month before and 3 months after entering

day-care in the strange situation. At the first observation,

day-care thildren were distressed by brief separations. Bu~ t~iA

disappeared at the second observation; horne-care children

appeared more disturbed and were intense In their greetings.
There were no personality differences between the two groups.

Child-caregiver ratio, quality of day-care arrangement, social

background of children, individual differences and the form of

care which best suits a child are the variables suggested for

research.

Viewing the studies from other aspects of socio-emotional'

development in children, one finds that there are hardly any

studies showing adverse effects due to maternal 'employment or

day-care experience. The lone study which shows adverse effects

due to day-care attendance is by Vandell and Corasaniti (1988).

They compared third grader day-care children, latch-key children

•
and children who went horne to their mothers. It was found that

the day-care children were at greater risk in contrast to latch -

key children who cared for themselves till their parents

•
returned. The latch-key children did as well as the children who

returned home to their mothers. The authors have tried to

explain the results by giving situational reasons.

Studies by Rubenstein and Howes (1979), Schachter (1981) and

Schwarz, Krolick and Strickland (1973) favoured the working

mothers' children and those by Douvan (1963), Marantz and

Mansfield (1977), Pasuaqli and Callegeri (1978), Poresky and

Whitsitt (1985) and Gold and Andres (1978), favoured only the

daughters of working mothers.

In samples of day care and home care children, aged 17 to 29

months, Rubenstein and Howes (1979) found positive affective

exchanges being exhibited more often ~n day care situations with

 55
more reciprocal smiling, holding/hugging, mutual play, both

with and without objects. More negative affects were expressed

at home by both infants and mothers ~ith more crying.

Reprimanding helped more positive affective interactions in both

the situations, i.e. day care and home situations. Toddlers

enjoyed the company of their peers. Children at the centres also

sought more visual attention and were more r~ady for social

interaction.

Children attending day care frOm infancy were compared with

those entering day care at 3 and 4 years of age. by Schwarz,

Krolick and Strickland (1973). Affe'ct, tension and social

interaction of children were rated as they all entered a new

centre. The ratings obtained on the first day and the fifth

week dispelled the view that day care leads to emotional

insecurity. However, children entering day care at 3 and 4

years were more disturbed than those attending day care from
infancy. The authors interpret this difference as arising from

the fact that the children in day care from infancy moved over to

the centre almost enmasse. They had familiar peers around them,

These children through a prior study ~ere similar on mother child

and child mother attachment. So attachment was not the Cause of

early group care being more relaxed and happy on the first day.

There are many studies which have found no difference

between children in day care and not in day care, Caldwell ,

Wright, Uonig and Tennenbaum (1970) found no adverse effects on

socia-emotional development. Stith and Davis (1984) did not find

any difference between employed mothers children in day care
 56

(Nl;lO), non-working mothers children not in day care (N2:10) and

children of employed mothers in family day care (N3=lO) on

socially mediated stimul\ltion, contingent responsiveness,

positive affect, and overall level and activity of social

stimulation.

In Nakhate's study (in progress) on preschool children, aged

•
4 to 6 years of family day-care (Nl-12). grand mother care

(N2=23), home care non-working mothers children (N3=23) and

servant care (N4=22), there were no statistically significant

differences on social maturity quotients as measured by Vinelad's

Social Maturity Scale.

Rural (North Carolina) Caucasian, middle to upper-middle

class, intact families children aged 5 and 6 years, who had

attended day-care (Nl=33) or family day care (N2=26) for 18

months (six or more hours per day for five days a week) were

studied by Moore, Snow and Poteat (1388). A sample' of 33

children not attending day care were also included. No

hyperactive or disabled children were in the sample. Though all

centres (24) were not evaluated, the two centres evaluated ranged

from scores of 130 to 150 on a possible range of 35 to 217.

Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scale, measuring skills for

communication, daily living socialization and motor skills were

used. ANOVA revealed that the three groups did not differ

significantly on any of the adaptive skills.

Bjorkman, Poteat and Snow (1986) in a study on diy-care

environment and social behaviour ratings in 4 year aIds found no

association. The authors explain this by the poss~bility of the

scale not being sensitive to changes in day care quality related

to social behaviour in children. Possibility of day-cares not

varying in quality was also there as the facilities and

provisions were similar in the centres studied In contrast,

Vandell and Powers (1983) had found a distinct association

between quality of day care and the amount of time children spent

in solitary play and unoccupied behaviour.

In a study of preschool children (N=166), Philips, McCartney

and Scarr (1987) controlled family background, child-care

experience (of day care giver) and age of the child. Verbal

interaction, overall day-care quality and director's experience

(of day care) emerged as predictors of children's social

development. Social development comprised of one scale

containing the factors, conSiderateness, sociability task

orientation, dependence and intelligence, and another comprising

aggression, anxiety, and hyperactivity (social adjustment).

Vandell, Henderson and Wilson (1988) in a 4 years

longitudinal study related day care quality experiences to

interactions with peers, adults, solitary play and unoccupied

behaviors. Observations for these behaviors were done at day

care centres during free play when the children were 4 years old

(10 boys and 10 girls). Similar behaviours were videotaped in

laboratory play room when they .'ere 8 years. Triads wpp' fnrllled

for the purpose, in such a way that a child was chosen from each
strata of day-care quality group or other 8 year olds from the
 tIIU

community. No two children from the same strata of day care or

same centre were chosen. Children did not know each other before

this play session.

The tasks in this play session consisted of cooperative,

competitive and conflict resolution tasks and a free play session

with specified time limits. Quality of day care was Positivel~.

related to friendly interactions and children from high quality

day-care were rated as more socially competent, happier and

received feloler "shy" nominations from peers. The 4 year-aIds

behaviours and later functioning at 8 years of age were

significantly related. Positive interaction with adults at 4

years was positively related to ratings of empathy, ·social

competence and peer acceptance at 8 years of age. While

unoccupied behaviour at 4 years was negatively related to these

behaviours.

Cognitive development

Majority of the studies involving day care attendance or

substitute care or the lack of it reveal no differences

•
(Cocharan, 1977; Caldwell, at aI., 1970; Kagan. Kearsley and

Zelago, 1979; Nakhate, study in progress).

Two matched groups of 60 children, one group attending day-

care for 8 to 10 hours a day in Sweden and the mother-home

reared, were compared in naturalistic setting (Coeharan,1977).

The children were matched on a number of variables like

geographic location, income level of parents, sex of the child,

and number of siblings from 4 SES levels. Attitude of the
 t.liJ

parents towards the value of experience of day care was held

constant. The observations showed that experiences for the two

groups of children were similar, but own and day-care-home

children were exploring their surroundings m6re than centre-care

•
children and were interacting with adults more in cognitive

verbal situations which led the adults to limit t~eir activities.

However, no developmental differences were found on an infant

scale nor in a separation situation. According to Cochran

(1977), the findings stress the varying roles played by adults

in the several settings as they are reflected in environmental

design differences.

In Caldwell at aI's. (1970) study not only did day care not

have negative effects on socia-emotional development but had a •

positive effect on their cognitive development. So was the case

in Robinson and Robinson's (1971) stUdy, Kagan Kearsley and

Zelago's (1979), Cheng and Chau (1984) and Nakhate's (in

progress) studies.

Robinson and Robinson's (1971) was a longitudinal study

extending for 2.5 years covering 19 infants who were admitted 1n

day care between 2 and 5.5 months of age and 12 preschoolers. In

Kagan, Kearsley and Zelago's (1979) study, low 'SES day care

children performed better on concept formation index. There was

no difference between Caucasian and middle class Chinese

children. Among the Caucasians, both working and middle class

childi'e,l, tlte Ii 01,,,,, ellvil'(Jrlm~lrLwas more facilitating, the home-

reared children scored higher than day-care children. This study

.highlights the importance of a facilitating environment for the
 tiU

group of children concerned, be it the home or day care.

In Nakhate's study (in progress) on preschoolers in Greater

Bombay, there were no differences amOng the four groups (servant

care, grand mother care, family day-care and reared children), on

the Indian adaptation of Binet's Intelligence Test - the Binet-

Kamat.

Cheng and Chau's (1984) study showed that there were no

differences on mother child interactions, caregiver-child

interactions, productions on dough-play, and skill in problem~

solving tasks did not vary according to care taking forms. High

SES and mother's education determined the stimulation given, the

facilities given and the father's involvement in the child's

upbringing. SES also determined the child's ability'to read and

write.

Home environment day care quality and effects o~ development

1hree of the studies pertain to the factors influencing

attachment behaviours and their relation to development in

children. In McBride and Belsky's (1988) study on employ~d

mothers' group, high maternal anxiety was related to secure

attachment with infants. Mothers who were explicitly anxious

about balancing employment and maternal roles ~ould be more

sensitive to their children's experiences and relate to them in

security providing and sensitive ways.

Oppenheim, Sagi and Lamb's (1988) study is a 4 year

 61

longitudinal study on the kibbutz children in Israel. Mother-

infant, father-infant, and metaplot (caregiver) attachment was

explored in the strange situation when the infants were 11-14

months old. They were observed again in the strange situation

when they were 5 years old to assess their socia-emotional

development. No differences were found between mother-infant,

and father-infant attachment to indices of later developments.

Infants with secure attachments to their metaplot were at 5 years

more empathic, dominant, purposive, achievement oriented,

independent and less controlled than non-security attached

subjects. Measures of socia-emotional development were more

related to the children's behaviour at the kibbutz than at their

parents' home. The authors cdnclude that the findings of this

study raise questions regarding the developmental significance of

attachment relationship with various significant adults.

A short term longitudinal study by Lamb et al. (1988)

overcame the problem of pre-selection of subjects. Sample for the

study was chosen from 140 children and families who were on

waiting lists to get into a centre. The children'S mean age was

16 months. 53 got admission in day care, 33 in family day care

centres and 54 remained ~t home with their mothers. Interviews

with all the parents were conducted on enrolment and 1 year

after, on the question of alternate care and family

characteristics. Children were assessed at the later interviews

for peer social skills, sociability with strange adults and child-

personality (as rated by parents and caregivers). Non-familial

care had no significant effect on these aspects of child

 62

behaviours. Personality maturity On the other ~and could be

predicted from high SES, high quality of home care and easy

temperament. Support from maternal grand-parents had a smaller

but significant effect. Prior sCcial skills and age were

,
predictors of peer social skills (both positive and negative) as

seen in the post-test.

Lamb et aI's, (1988) study deal& with social skills. Social

behaviours and child personality as influenced by home

environment and day care quality. Possibility of such

significant. relationship of high SES, high quality of care and

easy temperament with child personality could be because the

latter were rated by the parents too, Parents tend to rate their

children high on socially expected dimensions of behaviours.

Howes (1988) has made an exhaustjve, longitudinal study

(N=87) on the influence of family and day-care characteristics on

the development of children. When these children entered the

laboratory elementary school at 3 years 9 months, they were

enrolled for this longitudinal study, Age at which child entered

substitute care, full or part-time structure, number of 'child

care arrangements for each child and their quality was noted or

assessed. After 3 years when they were in the first grade,

adjustment to school was assessed. Single parent and mother

employed families utilized child care more and enrolled them at

earlier ages. Maternal education was more closely related to the •

child's adjustment in school than wa, marital status or maternal

employment. When family charcteristics were controlled, academic

progress, school skills and few behavioural problems were
associated ~ith high quality stable care. The structu~e of full-

and part-time ~ay care was not associated with school adjustment.

The interaction of family care characteristics and day care

quality as contributing to children's development is obvious In

this study.

The emergence of functional family, day-care and child

variables in relation to child development are veri distinct in

the studies of the late 1980s. The maternal employment status

nor the day-care attendance per se explain development in

children. Functional variables, like stimulation given, quality

of child caregiver interactions and the interactions among them

are more helpful in predicting development. Belsky (1988) is

also of this view. This may be seen as the ecological

perspective. However, the pioneers of the ecological model are

Bronfenbrenner (1986) and Gamble and Zigler (1986).

Bradley, Caldwell" and Rock's (1988) study, though not on

maternal employment nor day care attendance has been abstracted

for its contribution to understanding factors underlying

development. They have assessed the impact of three

environmental models (I-primacy of early experience, II-

predominance of contemporary environment, III-cumulative effects

in stable environments) vis-a-vis the home on school performance

of children. A ten year longitudinal study was conducted .for the

purpose. Measurements of horne envi~onment was done at 6 months

of the child's age; at 2 years a~d again at 10 to 11 years.

• Age
appropriate scales were utilized. Relationship to children's
classroom behaviour and SRA school achievement scores was done at

\
the 2 and 10-11 year follow-ups. sample size at the 10 year

follow-up was 42 (varied at earlier ages and so also certain

,
sample compositions). Significant correlations between home

environments and school performance were observed at both latter

I
age levels. Home environment at 6 months was only related to

some limited class-room behaviours. Strongest partial

correlations were noted for the contemporary environment model,

but all the three models received some support. The findings of

the study though not conclusive has significance because of its

longitudinal design. It implies that development cannot be

explained in simple contemporary models alone. Development is an

outcome of complex interactions of early experiences, cumulativ~

stable experiences and contemporary influences.

Research Methodology Used in the Research Studies

Research designs :

Most studies are inevitably, post-facto analyses barring

some exceFtions (Howes, 1988; Lamb et al., 1988). These authors

could study children and their families before the children

entered day care or other substitute £ares. Most deSigns in the

initial stages of research have been poor two group designs.

Experimental laboratory manipulated designs are more

characteristic of research in the 1970s and after. They were for

studying the interpersonal interactions before, during and after

mother·chlld separation and the consequent behaviours.

More studies are being conducted in naturalistic or close to

 65

natural setting. They are also being corroborated .. ith

observations through other means like videotaped ratings.

According to some authors naturalistic settings mask a variety of

behaviour making it difficult to measure them. Experimental

field studies are often recommended.

Large scale studies to assess the impact of maternal

employment on children are rare. The studies are also largely

confined to urban American contexts. Studies on larger scales in

different socio-cultural settings need to be undertaken.

Longitudinal studies are steadily increasing in numbers and

the order of the day. (Moore, 1963; Robinson and Robinson,

1971'; Cherry and Eaton, 1977; Lerner and Galombos, 1985 ;

Vanddel, Henderson and Wilson, 1988; Oppenheim, Sagi and Lamb,

1988; Howes, 1988; Lamb et aI., 1988; Main and Cassidy, 1988).

Sampling procedures

Initially (1940s and the 1950s) study samples were chosen

from special centres of population like the counselling or child

guidance centres (Hoffman. 1963). The researches of the 1970s

and the early 1980s studied children mostly frQm university based

day-care centres. Generalizations from such samples to larger

populations are very likely to be unreliable.

Sample sizes are sm~ll in studies using substitute care as a

factor. Finding large samples is difficult conSidering the

number of variables to be matched or controlled.

• • Small sample

sizes thus become inevitable. Though generalizations cannot be

•
 uu

made, the trend of factors influencing development of children

can be established.

Tools/instruments of data collection

Early in the period when effects of maternal employment were

being explored, questionnaires and self-report inventories were

utilized. In most cases there was no way to check on the

responses provided and the actual behaviours exhibited. Measures

of anxiety, anti-social behaviours or certain aspects of

psychosomatic symptoms used in assessing pre-school children's

characteristics reflect behaviours that are or could be normal

for that age-group (Siegal, 1963; Hoffman, 1963).

In some studies, the responses about maternal employment

were ontained through children's questionnaires. Use of only

questionnaires and self-report inventories was a serious

limitation.

It was followed by interview and observation teachniques in

natural, field setting and laboratories. Rating scales were

being utilized very often. I nth e in i t i a 1 s tag e 5 if r.a tin g

scales were utilised at all, t~ey were rated by inappropiiately

qualified people on aspects like psychosomatic symptoms and

delinquent behaviours (Siegel, 1963). Validity and reliability

of the instruments were either not checked or not reported.

Research conducted in the 1970s or after, are relatively more

reliable with more sophisticated measures, except in the case of

studies on mother-child separation and anxiety behaviours in

children (involving the use of Ainsworth's
•
Strange Situation
Technique), It has been criticized for lack of validity in tbe

real life situations (McCartney and Galanpoulos, 1988; Fein and

Clark-Stewart, 1983).

Fein and Clarke-Stewart (1983) argue that the use of the

strange situation in determining attachment is not the right

procedure as it is a laboratory simulated situation. The

Ainsworth Strange Situation is for children aged 20 months or

less. Moreover, children in day-care and home care could react

differently to the sep~rations. Day care children for whom it is

routine, instead of being stressful and attached, could be

unstressful and avoidant. More studies in naturalistic and field

experiments are needed.

McCartney and Galanpoulos (1988) in a review of studies on

maternal attachment of the child and child care forms' have shown

that inconistencies in outcomes of these studies is due to two

reasons, viz., methodological limitations and the failure to

consider interaction of family and child care systems.

Meta-analyses, reported by McCartney and Galanpoulos (1988)

of 25 studies on child-mother attachments showed thAt the amount

of time spent in creche is a moderating variable. Children when

they first enter daycare may exhibit certain transitory

behaviours, as children who go to school directly before

underioing daily separations with the mother. Critics of meta-

analYSis may argue that poor studies could contaminate the

results of the better controlled studies. Analysis was done ,

considering 6 moderators, whether the experimenter was blind to

the group status (SE5), the sex of the experimenter, the mean age

of children, the age range of children, whether the strange

situation was modified in any way and the length of time (in

months) the children had ,spent in substitute care. The

moderator, whether the experimenter was blind to the group status

emerged as a significant one. It waS significantly related to

the effect-avoidance and proximity seeking to the mother. In

studies where the experimenter was not blind to the group status,

day care children were more avoidant. It shows that experimenter

expectancy is an important variable influencing the results. One

theoretically knows of it, but giving empirical evidence. is

something else!

Statistical techniques used for analyses of data

Means were calculated and compared for different groups 1n

the study. Nature of associations ( were sometimes computed.

It was at the later stages of progress of research in the area

that analysis of variance and t-tests were made use of.

Correlational analyses were utilized sometimes but regression

analyses were rare. ContemporarY studies are utilizing

multivariate analyses MANOVA, regression analyses, multiple

partial correlation analyses, path analysis and meta-analysis.

Interpretation of results

The inte~pretation and theoretical background utilized have

depended (apart 'from the societal attitudes prevailing at the

time), on who conducts the studies, •••• clinicians or

psychiatrists, women social scientists or even men scientists
concerned about the enmancipation. development and welfare. of

women? Psycho-analytical oriented psychologists and

psychiatrists would predict unfavourable influences on children

if mothers were employed outside the home.

However, the trend today seems to be more objective,

broadbased, with an accent on ecological models. i.e. not only

the different systems affecting child development. are considered

but also the interaction between them.

Considering the characteristics of the child and mothering

b~haviours too in explaining the development of children is

slowly creeping into the scene (Main and Cassidy, 1988; Masten,

et al., 1988).

Gaps in research

The additive model of Gamble and Zigler (1986), is only just

beginning to be tested. Philips, McCartney and ScaTr's (1987)

study was one such pioneering attempt. Bronfennbrener (1986) had

identified the absence of family care variables in explainine

the development of children in substitute care.

Philips, McCartney and Scarr (1987) and the other 1988

studies though they are studying the interaction of family and

day care variables, have not considered the extent of

contribution that home and day care can make to development.

Further, though aspects of day care have been considered in

finding variables significantly related to devlopment, the same

has not been done with respect to fami~y care variables. In

 70

f amil y care, SES, maternal employment and parent-child

interaction have been considered. The totality of family care

environment and day care has nat been considered for research.

Research on the relationship of family care environment and day

care quality and their relationship to development of children is

scarce. Aspects of day care influencing development have been

explored, but not specifically the home environment variables •

Moreover, studies conducted here have concentrated only

. on

developmental differences between employed and non-employed

mathers' children or on children undergoing different types of

substitute care (Seth and Bhatnagar, 1979; Bapat, 1980; Nakhate,

study in progress).

Thus, the aim of this research will be to study the

relationship of family care environment and day care quality to

development in children and the different aspects of day care and

home environment that are significantly related to development.

To achieve this aim, day care quality and home environment are

first assessed.