A new study suggests that the more hours a child spends in day-care centres or with caretakers, the greater is the impact of separation on the mother-child bond. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, USA, examined 1,274 mothers and their children. They found that children who spend more time in day-care centres than with their mothers, have "somewhat less positive" relations with their mother than children who spend more time with their mothers.
The mother and the child are perhaps less "in tune" with one another since they are not together most of the day. By the early 1990s, over 50 per cent of mothers with infants under one year of age worked away from the home in the US. While the long-term impact of such separation is still unknown, Margaret Tresch Owen, a researcher at the University of Texas in Dallas, USA, advises mothers to spend more time with their children ( Developmental Psychology , Vol 35, No 6).
We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.
.png)
Comments are moderated and will be published only after the site moderator’s approval. Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name. Selected comments may also be used in the ‘Letters’ section of the Down To Earth print edition.