Childcare, Early Education and Socio-Emotional Outcomes at Age 5: Evidence from the Growing up in Ireland Study

Authors: Helen Russell , Oona Kenny , Frances McGinnity

This report investigates the effects of childcare in early life on children’s socio-emotional development at age five using a large representative sample of children (circa 9,000) from the Growing Up in Ireland study. At age three, prior to the Free Preschool Year, around half the children in the study were in non-parental childcare.  There were three categories of non-parental childcare:

• Relative care, usually by a grandparent
• Non-relative care, typically a childminder
• Centre-based care, e.g. crèche