Biden’s Daycare Plan Is Bad for Families

Young children are clearly happier and healthier when they spend the day at home with a parent

By J.D. Vance and Jenet Erickson. Mr. Vance is an investor and author. Ms. Erickson is a Research Fellow of the Wheatley Institution. Excerpts:

"Brown University economist Emily Oster argues that criticisms of Mr. Biden’s proposal are “not supported by the data. . . . Child care is not ‘terrible for children.’ ” The essential point isn’t that “child care” is bad for kids, however, but that a federal push to get droves of children into daycare is. These are two different things, raising radically different questions. For example, how can we ensure safe facilities and capable caregivers for millions of additional children moved abruptly into child care? Hardly a trivial logistical challenge.  

Moreover, the available empirical data contradict Ms. Oster’s argument. In 1997 the provincial government of Quebec began offering child care for 5 Canadian dollars a day to all families, regardless of income. Almost two decades later, economists Michael Baker, Kevin Milligan and Jonathan Gruber found that children from two-parent families who participated showed significant increases in anxiety, aggression and hyperactivity. Those effects persisted—and even grew—as they reached young adulthood. Self-reported health and life satisfaction decreased significantly. Boys who participated were more likely to commit crimes. It was, to put it bluntly, a disaster for Quebec’s children.

Some advocates argue that Quebec’s failure proves simply that low-quality care produces low-quality results, something they think the U.S. could surely avoid. This ignores the federal government’s persistent failure to provide high-quality care for the relatively small number of children in the $10 billion Head Start program. It also ignores that even high-quality child care in the U.S. is linked to negative social and emotional outcomes for children who spend lots of time in institutional care. A major longitudinal study conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development found that the more time infants and toddlers spent in nonfamilial care, the more likely they were to engage in aggressive, disobedient or risky behavior. 

That doesn’t mean child care is bad for all kids. Research shows that high-quality care is often beneficial for children from disadvantaged homes. But young children from average, healthy homes can be harmed by spending long hours in child care. Moving millions of young children out of their homes into nonparental group care will have unintended negative effects on children’s emotional and social well-being."

"In fact, the highest quality standards for child care promote exactly what happens in the average home—one adult in an active, stable and encouraging relationship with two to three children. This standard is difficult to duplicate in institutional settings, especially on a large scale."