The effects of early years’ childcare on child emotional and behavioural difficulties in lone and co-parent family situations

With targeted childcare initiatives and welfare-to-work programmes policy-makers havesought to address employment activation of lonemothers and negative outcomes for children inlone parent households. The present study examines non-parental childcare use and maternalemployment among children living in lone and co-parent family situations at ages three andfour and emotional and behavioural difficulties at ages four and five. The results demonstratethat negative outcomes associated with lone motherhood are explained largely bymother’s age,education, material circumstances and area deprivation; and that maternal employment doesnot relieve lone mothers’ disadvantages in a way that alleviates the risks of difficulties to theirchildren.However, in any family constellation,mainly group-based formal pre-school childcaredoes have a positive impact on child difficulties compared to drawing on informal childcarearrangements as main provider. In addition, and specifically for the difficulties of children inlone mother family situations, any non-parental childcare – formal or informal − for at leasttwenty-five hours per week is beneficial. Study findings support policy agendas which tacklefamilies’ material hardship beyond promoting mothers’ employment, and through investmentin formal childcare provision, and also through arrangements allowing lone mothers to dividetheir weekly load of childcare with another main provider.