Background: With increasing numbers of women joining the evening/night-time and extended-hour workforce, there is a need for quality childcare during these hours. This project, conducted in Japan, sought to compare the effects of expanded childcare on the development and adaptation of 648 young children after 2 years in care.
Method: All parents in 41 governmentally licensed child care facilities in Japan completed a survey on the child-rearing environment at home, their feelings of self-efficacy, and the presence of support for childcare to provide a baseline of information. Two years later, 648 of these parents were surveyed again. Childcare professionals evaluated the development of children at both times.
Results and discussion: The results of multiple regression analysis indicate that factors in the home environment, not length of centre-based care, explained developmental risks 2 years later.