Day Care Deception: What the Child Care Establishment Isn't Telling Us

As a graduate of Barnard College, I would consider myself a feminist. However, after reading this book, I must say that I am disgusted by the influence of the modern feminist agenda in the media, acadamia and politics, and the subsequent damage which this "feminist" influence causes to children. New mothers who are trying to make a crucial decision about whether or not to stay home or to return to work are unwittingly given incomplete information. Isn't the women's movement about educating women and giving them the freedom to choose their own path? If so, shouldn't feminists be truth-seekers, educating themselves and other mothers about both the pros and cons of daycare? In Robertson's book, I found example after example of the opposite happening in our society. Studies showing detrimental effects of daycare have been vilified, or simply refused publication. Childhood experts have taken their anti-daycare (or pro-mother-at-home for the child's early years) comments out of their books because of backlash from feminists. I could continue to give mortifying examples, but please read the book because Robertson does a very thorough job of spelling out for the reader just how bad daycare is for children and why we never hear anyone say so. I recommend this book to any parent struggling over their employment-childcare decision. I would also recommend this to mothers raising their children full-time because it will support your choice to put your children first. Most of all, I recommend this book to policy makers who falsely believe that government funding of center-based childcare will solve problems. Please read this book.

We are currently witnessing a grand social experiment, the results of which are not fully in as yet. But the data that is coming in is not good. We are allowing an entire generation of babies and young children to be raised by strangers. While adults might benefit from such arrangements, the well-being of children is being put at risk.That is the sobering conclusion of a new volume by a research fellow at the Washington-based Family Research Council. With extensive documentation Robertson demonstrates how extended periods of day care are harming our children.Robertson shows how feminist ideology, coupled with a sympathetic media and a cowardly academy, have managed to convince many that parenting is too important to be left to mere parents, that bureaucrats know better than mom and dad, and that day care centers are in fact good for children.All three of these emphases are incorrect. But the growth of the day care industry is hard to counter. In the US, federal subsidies to the child care market rocketed from $2 billion in 1965 to $15 billion in 2000. And as more and more mothers enter the paid work force (most because of economic necessity, not personal preference) the day care juggernaut races onwards.These social trends have resulted in a devaluing of motherhood, a weakening of the family unit, and most importantly, negative outcomes for our children. The harmful effects of extended periods of day care include higher rates of illness, greater chance of sexual abuse, higher rates of aggression, and greater risk of antisocial personality disorders.The emotional, psychological and physical harm to children who spend lengthy amounts of time in day care has been well documented for some decades now. Yet the social science evidence is often attacked, covered up or ignored. Those who try to present the evidence are personally abused and vilified. It is just not politically correct to tell the truth on this issue.The story of researcher Jay Belsky is a case in point. As an early proponent of day care, he was the darling of feminists and academia. But his research caused him to have a change of heart, and when he started to publish data showing negative consequences, he was furiously opposed. Although he sought to be as cautious and restrained as possible, the child care establishment and its supporters distorted his findings and blackballed his research. He quickly became persona non grata in the eyes of many. Robertson carefully chronicles this and similar episodes in the day care wars.Robertson reviews the studies which show how early day care harms the mother-infant bond which is so important in a child's development. Of course defenders of day care put a different spin on the findings. Children in day care are not more aggressive, simply more "independent". And they even try to say that if such aggression exists, it is a virtue, not a vice.Moreover, they argue that children do better socially and educationally when in day care. But the solid resea

I am a graduate student researching the negative effects of maternal absence on infant biology and psychology. I have been approached numerous times by fellow grad students and a few professors, warning me that my research might make some moms "feel guilty," and therefore maybe I shouldn't do the research. My response is that moms are adults who can take care of their own emotions and make their own choices. Infants and toddlers are stuck with the choices their mothers make. Why should I not do research to protect moms? Shouldn't we know what's happening to our children?This book was a breath of fresh air -- at last, someone has the guts to print the real data. Funny thing is, I consider myself very liberal, and an active feminist. I am pro-choice, and very much for working moms -- as long as those moms take those few years off to spend with their developing children (or, find a way to work at home). I am also for paternity leave.All this is to say that as a scientist, a liberla, and a feminist, I applaud this book. This is not a "conservative" book, it's for everyone who should know the truth about what's happening to our kids. Tough if it makes parents uncomfortable. Do what's best for your kids, not what's convenient for you.

This is an important book; I hope it gets the attention it deserves. Children are better off being raised by a parent, rather than an institution. I know, I know ... some parents have to have someone else daycare their child while they work. However, many out there like what the extra income affords them, and the impression they make on others. If all working parents read this book, I think that they would look at their situation with different eyes - maybe through their child's eyes. Would parents like spending their days in a noisy, overstimulating environment, or would they rather be in their familiar homes with loving care from the people who brought them into this world? This book could change hearts. And the lives of children who would rather be with mommy or daddy.

Day Care Deception provides a focused view of a child-rearing practice that has heretofore escaped much-needed scrutiny. Utilizing current research and insights of his previous book, Forced Labor [There's No Place Like Work], Robertson does a masterful job in presenting a fair but critical examination of the impact of raising children in center-based day care. Day Care Deception's primary value is in establishing the following facts: 1) Parents, especially lower-income parents, consistently say they prefer raising their children at home, or the care of close relatives or trusted friends, not in full-time, center-based care; 2) day-care advocates have successfully obtained federal tax breaks and corporate perks for affluent parents who do drop their infants and small children at center-based care; 3) political leaders in both parties should reconsider policies that hurt those families who sacrifice money and opportunity to raise their chilren at home; and 4) lastly, and most importantly, center-based care is generally physically and psychologically harmful to infants and small children. The facts about day care are not comforting. Thirty years ago, few parents would ever consider dropping off infants and toddlers for 35-40 hours a week so parents could maintain an affluent lifestyle, but we are doing that today. We tell ourselves false rationalizations like "it helps them socialize," or "they love the toys and interactions." The truth is just the opposite: small children want to be with their mothers and fathers, not with near-strangers, no matter how well-intentioned. As one person in the book asks: if we could all come back as small children, where we would prefer to be raised? At home, or in a day-care center? The answer is obvious to most of us, but somehow we aren't willing to provide that home for our own children. The excuse of economics doesn't justify our actions: most children placed in day care have affluent parents, not struggling working mothers who have no choice. Families in America are under siege, as Robertson notes. The economic, fiscal and cultural factors that made center-based day care so prevalant are fascinating, especially for those of us who remember the days before extensive day care. I recommend reading both Robertson's books to fully appreciate that history; his previous description of maternal advocacy, and the "family wage" in the feminist movement of the early 20th century is highly instructive. In addition, the developments contributing to the baby boom of 1946-1964 deserve careful consideration.Day Care Deception is well timed. With the fight over gay marriage, judicial activism regarding privacy, and other issues affecting families and society, day care can and should be carefully evaluated. Politicians in both parties carelessly support "affordable day care", without being forced to explain why other families should pay the cost for this harmful practice. Full-time, center-based day care is not good for children.