Better language skills at age 3 if young minded by relatives but young looked after in creches develop better motor-skills by same age, says Túsla research
Infants cared for by a relative develop better language skills by the age of three than those cared for in settings such as creches, according to new research.
Children looked after in creches develop better motor-skills such as hand eye co-ordination by the same age, finds the study, commissioned by Túsla – the Child and Family Agency – and the Irish Research Council, and carried out by Maynooth University.
The research found that language skills are the only element in which children who are cared for by their own extended families fare better by the age of three.
“This was the only type of childcare arrangement to have a positive influence on cognitive development,” say the report’s authors, though it was limited to vocabulary and did not impact on visual recognition abilities.
The study is the first in Ireland to look at the influence of childcare arrangements from infancy (nine months) up to the age of nine years, on a child’s physical, cognitive and socio-emotional development.
It is based on data gathered in the national longitudinal study Growing Up in Ireland.
