Segregated from the Start: Peer Context in Center-based Child Care

Abstract

A majority of U.S. children attend some type of child care before entering kindergarten. The quality of child care environment and of teacher–child interactions appear to influence children's development, but little attention has been paid to the influence of child-care peers. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort, the authors identify patterns of peer group racial–ethnic composition in center-based child care. Bivariate statistics show the relationships among child care quality and racial–ethnic peer-group composition, and a series of regression models assesses the unique contribution of peer-group composition to children's literacy, receptive and expressive language, math skills, and eagerness to learn. The authors find that center-based child care is highly segregated, with children attending care with predominantly same-race–ethnicity peers. This segregation is associated with differences in quality. Hispanic- and white-dominated peer groups have similarly high quality across domains, whereas black-dominated groups have somewhat lower structural quality and caregiver warmth. Other race–ethnicity-dominated groups have the lowest levels of caregiver warmth. Peer segregation is also associated with differences in child development. Children attending Hispanic-dominated care are found to demonstrate significantly worse outcomes on four out of five outcomes. Possible reasons are explored, and implications for social work research, practice, and policy are discussed.