Researchers from Bryson Purdon Social Research, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) carried out a literature review of English and American studies into the role of informal childcare.
Their analysis of the Millennium Cohort Study, tracking nearly 16,000 children born between 2000 and 2002, found that by age three, children living in more advantaged households and being looked after by their grandparents are significantly further ahead with their vocabulary than children in formal childcare settings.
In contrast, a 2009 study by Hansen and Hawkes, 'Early Childcare and Child Development', found that children looked after by grandparents were less ready for school than those attending early years settings.
The authors note that being cared for by their grandparents did not put children at any disadvantage in school readiness compared with children in formal care, but neither did it provide an advantage.
The explanation they give for this is that grandparents often have one-to-one time with their grandchildren in which to talk and interact, while they do not always have the resources or skills to develop their grandchildren in preparation for a school environment, as early years practitioners do.
They also suggest, based on their analysis of American studies, that informal carers may tend to provide a less rich learning environment than formal providers, and that their disciplining is more variable, but that they score better in terms of sensitivity and responsiveness.
The literature review, 'The role of informal childcare: a synthesis and critical review of the evidence', which was funded by the Nuffield Foundation, also highlighted an association between socio-emotional development and being looked after by grandparents among more educated families.
This was still apparent at the age of five, say the authors, whereas the negative association among children in less well-educated families had disappeared once they had spent time as three- and four-year-olds in early years provision.
The report concludes that there are some advantages, and a few disadvantages, to children being looked after by grandparents or other informal childcare providers in the first three years of life, either solely or in combination with formal childcare.
However, the authors go on to say that by the time children have spent time in early years provision, any associations between their outcomes and childcare they experienced earlier disappear.
'Since many parents will continue to choose, or need to use, informal childcare in order to facilitate work, these findings are important,' says the report. 'In particular, there is no strong evidence to suggest that, by doing so, they are putting their children at a disadvantage in relation to children in formal childcare.'
