A think-tank report examined the impact of the commercialization of childhood - including psychological impacts, premature development, poor health, and family conflict.
Source: Zoe Williams, The Commercialisation of Childhood, Compass (020 7463 0633)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Dec
A report said that 1 in 7 children - 1.6 million overall - were growing up homeless or in bad housing. In England, children in bad housing were twice as likely to leave school with no GCSEs. Almost 310,000 children in bad housing in Britain were suffering long-term illness or disability.
Source: Becky Rice, Against the Odds: An investigation comparing the lives of children on either side of Britain?s housing divide, Shelter (020 7505 4699)
Links: Report | Summary | Shelter press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Nov
A report gave a positive evaluation of a project designed to develop resources for improving public neighbourhood play spaces and services for children and young people.
Source: Haki Kapasi, Neighbourhood Play and Community Action, National Children s Bureau (020 7843 6029) for Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Date: 2006-Nov
A report said that a programme of events in Scotland to promote healthy living awareness among pupils before their transition to secondary school had been successful in entertaining and stimulating pupils and in making them think about the issues relating to drugs, alcohol, and smoking.
Source: Justine Menzies and Katherine Myant, Review of Choices for Life, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Nov
New official guidance said that by 2009 all teachers, nurses and family doctors should be trained in recognizing children s mental health problems. It also called for the use of adult wards for children to be eliminated within five years, except for a few older adolescents who identified more readily with young adults.
Source: Louis Appleby, Sheila Shribman and Naomi Eisenstadt, Promoting the Mental Health and Psychological Well-being of Children and Young People: Report on the implementation of Standard 9 of the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Guidance | Annex | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Nov
A report said that children who lived in bad housing were more likely to face a range of problems with their living conditions. They were more likely than other children to suffer from poor health, to suffer from a long-standing illness or disability, to dislike the area in which they lived, to have run away from home, to have been excluded from school, and to have left school with no GCSEs.
Source: Matt Barnes, Nick Lyon and Anne Conolly, The Living Standards of Children in Bad Housing, National Centre for Social Research (020 7250 1866)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Nov
The broadcasting regulator began consultation on detailed restrictions intended to limit children?s exposure to television advertising of food and drink products high in fat, salt and sugar.
Source: Television Advertising of Food and Drink Products to Children: Statement and further consultation, Office of Communications (020 7981 3000)
Links: Consultation document | Ofcom press release | DCMS press release | OCC press release | NCC press release | Sustainweb press release | Consumer Association press release | BHF press release | NFWI press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Children Now report
Date: 2006-Nov
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers said that the trafficking of women and children had become 'one of the most serious human rights issues in the modern world', and called for tougher action from government.
Source: Human Trafficking, Twenty-sixth Report (Session 2005-06), HC 1127 and HL 245, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons) Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Amnesty press release | TUC press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Oct
The Northern Ireland Executive began consultation on a play strategy.
Source: A Play Strategy for Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Executive (028 9052 0500)
Links: Consultation document | NICCY press release
Date: 2006-Oct
A report presented 22 indicators relating to the health and well-being of children and young people in the English regions. It made a number of recommendations for future development concerning data collection and analysis, focusing particularly on the health and well-being of vulnerable children and children living in special circumstances.
Source: Brian Ferguson et al., Indications of Public Health in the English Regions: 5 - Child Health, Association of Public Health Observatories (0191 3340398)
Date: 2006-Oct
A report examined how mobile phones had changed the way children and young people lived. 91 per cent of children aged 12 owned a mobile phone. Almost 80 per cent of the young people surveyed said that they felt safer having a mobile, and that they had a better social life as a result. But 1 in 3 said that they talked regularly and/or send texts to people they did not want their parents to know about.
Source: The Mobile Life Youth Report 2006: The impact of the mobile phone on the lives of young people, Carphone Warehouse (0845 604 1207)
Links: Report | Carphone press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Sep
Research found that attempts to encourage children to eat more healthily were being undermined by multimedia advertising campaigns for junk food.
Source: Ellie Lewis, Children s Views on Non-broadcast Food and Drink Advertising , Office of the Children s Commissioner (0844 8009113)
Links: Report | NCB press release
Date: 2006-Sep
A report examined the impact of bad housing on children's life chances. It said the 'housing effect' meant that children growing up in bad housing had up to a 25 per cent higher risk of severe ill-health and disability during childhood and early adulthood. Homeless children were up to four times more likely to suffer mental health problems than other children. Offending behaviour might also be linked to behavioural problems that emerged among children living in poor housing conditions.
Source: Lisa Harker, Chance of a Lifetime: The impact of bad housing on children s lives, Shelter (020 7505 4699)
Links: Report | Shelter press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Sep
A total of 3,201 people were killed on the roads in Great Britain in 2005, 1 per cent fewer than in 2004. 141 children were killed, a fall of 15 per cent; and the number of children killed or seriously injured fell by 11 per cent, to 3,472.
Source: Road Casualties in Great Britain: 2005, Department for Transport (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report | DT press release
Date: 2006-Sep
A report said that the children of alcoholics were four times more likely to be addicted to drink themselves in adulthood, and were at risk from drug and gambling problems: their early life was characterized by chaos, trauma, confusion, shame, and (quite often) sexual and physical abuse.
Source: Suffer the Children: Adult children of alcoholics, Priory Group (01372 860 400)
Links: Report | Priory press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Sep
A report described government action to encourage the promotion of greater play opportunities for children and young people.
Source: Time for Play: Encouraging greater play opportunities for children and young people, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6200)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Sep
Researchers confirmed the potential of an integrated approach to multiple assessments for children with significant and complex health needs and/or disabilities; and the value of flexibility (rather than one particular model) in responding to local circumstances and needs.
Source: Janet Boddy, Patricia Potts and June Stratham, Models of Good Practice in Joined-up Assessment: Working for children with significant and complex needs , Research Report RW79, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2006-Sep
A literature review examined the extent of parental mental health problems and their impact on families; and the acceptability, accessibility, and effectiveness of interventions.
Source: Salina Bates and Esther Coren, The Extent and Impact of Parental Mental Health Problems on Families and the Acceptability, Accessibility and Effectiveness of Interventions, Social Care Institute for Excellence (020 7089 6840)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Aug
An article said that more needed to be done to reduce the traffic injury death rates for child pedestrians and cyclists. This might encourage more walking and cycling, and also had the potential to reduce social class gradients in injury mortality.
Source: Beth Sonkin, Phil Edwards, Ian Roberts and Judith Green, 'Walking, cycling and transport safety: an analysis of child road deaths', Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Volume 99 Issue 8
Links: Article | RSM press release
Date: 2006-Aug
A survey found that 1 in 3 children (aged 10-16) felt unsafe using parks some or all of the time - with gangs, bullies, and drunken children among the reasons.
Source: Press release 20 July 2006, Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (020 7960 2400)
Links: CABE press release
Date: 2006-Jul
A survey identified a gap between the level of children's knowledge of information/communications technology and that of their parents. 13 per cent of children aged 11 said that their parents never supervised internet use, and 11 per cent said that their parents did not know to whom they chatted online. 46 per cent of children aged 11-16 said that they could remove parental controls on their internet use, and disable security software.
Source: Get I.T. Safe: Children, parents and technology survey 2006, NCH (020 7704 7000) and Tesco Telecoms
Links: Report | NCH press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jul
The first annual report from the Office of the Children's Commissioner in England was published, covering the period 2005-06.
Source: Office of the Children's Commissioner: Annual Report and Accounts 2005/06, HC 1278, Office of the Children s Commissioner, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jul
A new book examined the diverse situations of refugee and asylum-seeking children in the United Kingdom - and the hostile reception that very often created barriers to their educational success.
Source: Jill Rutter, Refugee Children in the UK, Open University Press (01280 823388)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Jul
A report said that child sex abuse images on the internet were increasing in number, and that international efforts to bring the situation under control were failing.
Source: John Carr, 'Out of Sight, Out of Mind': Tackling child sex abuse images on the internet A global challenge, NCH (020 7704 7000)
Links: Report | NCH press release | IWF press release
Date: 2006-Jul
An article examined socio-economic inequalities in rates of death from injury in children in England and Wales. Overall rates of death from injury and poisoning in children had fallen in England and Wales over the previous 20 years, except for rates in children in families in which no adult was in paid employment. Serious inequalities in injury death rates remained, particularly for pedestrians, cyclists, house fires, and deaths of undetermined intent.
Source: Phil Edwards, Ian Roberts, Judith Green and Suzanne Lutchmun, 'Deaths from injury in children and employment status in family: analysis of trends in class specific death rates', British Medical Journal, 15 July 2006
Links: Abstract | LSHTM press release
Date: 2006-Jul
An article examined the complexities involved in distinguishing infanticide from sudden infant death syndrome and other sudden unexplained deaths in infancy. It considered ways in which infant deaths might be investigated more effectively.
Source: Fiona Brookman and Jane Nolan, 'The dark figure of infanticide in England and Wales', Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Volume 21 Number 7
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Jul
A literature review examined parental substance misuse, and identified priorities for future work. Some studies had found no evidence of heightened risk for children stemming from parental substance misuse alone.
Source: Lorna Templeton, Sarah Zohhadi, Sarah Galvani and Richard Velleman, 'Looking Beyond Risk': Parental substance misuse - Scoping study, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Date: 2006-Jul
A report set out a programme of work to equip services and professionals to identify and respond to the health and mental health needs of individuals affected by domestic violence, childhood sexual abuse, rape, oblique sexual assault, and sexual exploitation - both victims and abusers, male and female.
Source: Catherine Itzen, Tackling the Health and Mental Health Effects of Domestic and Sexual Violence and Abuse, Department of Health (08701 555455) and National Institute for Mental Health in England
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jun
The Northern Ireland Executive announced new legislation to align the law in Northern Ireland with the European Convention on Human Rights, following decisions by the European Court of Human Rights. An order amended the law relating to the physical punishment of children in the home (and also removed the legal restrictions on in-laws marrying).
Source: The Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, Northern Ireland Executive, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Draft order | Explanatory notes | NICCY press release
Date: 2006-Jun
A report said that more support was needed for children who were sexually exploited. Victims of child sexual exploitation who received intensive support had their risk of continuing to be exploited dramatically reduced.
Source: Sara Scott and Paula Skidmore, Reducing the Risk: Barnardo s support for sexually exploited young people - A two-year evaluation, Barnardo s (01268 520224)
Links: Report | Summary | Barnardo's press release
Date: 2006-Jun
A report said that parental alcohol misuse damaged and disrupted the lives of children and families in all areas of society, spanning all social classes.
Source: Bottling it Up: The effects of alcohol misuse on children, parents and families, Turning Point (020 7702 1458)
Links: Report | Summary | Turning Point press release
Date: 2006-Jun
A report said that mental health problems in children and adolescents were on the increase: but mental health services were failing the most vulnerable, such as children in care, and those from black and ethnic minorities.
Source: Child and Adolescent Mental Health: A guide for healthcare professionals, British Medical Association (020 7387 4499)
Links: Report | BMA press release | MHF press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jun
The number of people killed in road accidents in Great Britain fell by 1 per cent in 2005 compared to 2004. The number of people who were killed or seriously injured fell by 6 per cent. The number of children killed or seriously injured fell by 11 per cent.
Source: Road Casualties in Great Britain: Main Results - 2005, Transport Statistics Bulletin 06/26, Department for Transport (020 7944 3098)
Links: Bulletin
Date: 2006-Jun
A report set out what the Scottish Executive was doing with its local partners ? in education, health, social work, police and criminal justice ? to improve care and support for the children of parents who abused drugs. It also identified further action to be taken.
Source: Hidden Harm: Next Steps - Supporting Children, Working with Parents, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-May
A new book examined child abuse and child welfare policy. It asked what was meant by 'safeguarding' children in modern society.
Source: Nigel Parton, Safeguarding Childhood: Early intervention and surveillance in a late modern society, Palgrave Macmillan (01256 329242)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-May
A report examined the problems of children whose family circumstances - such as parental illness, disability, alcohol or drug dependency, or bereavement - had forced them into prematurely ?adult? roles. Many were reluctant to seek help because of a determination to protect their parents from trouble and to keep their family together.
Source: Old Heads on Young Shoulders: Helping children and young people whose family circumstances force them into adult roles, Childline/National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (020 7650 3200)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-May
A think-tank report said that immediate action was needed to improve the range and capacity of the services in Scotland designed to meet the needs of children living with, and affected by, substance use.
Source: Patricia Russell, Have We Got Our Priorities Right? Children living with parental substance use, Abelour Child Care Trust (0131 669 5190)
Links: Report | ACCT press release
Date: 2006-May
The government announced new nutrition standards for school meals, banning 'junk foods' which were high in salt and fat.
Source: Press release 19 May 2006, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: DfES press release | FSA press release | ASCL press release | CPAG press release | APSE press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-May
The broadcasting regulator reported on the extent of children?s media literacy (the ability to access, understand, and create communications in a variety of contexts). Of children aged 8-11, 35 per cent watched television mostly on their own. 78 per cent of children aged 12?15 felt that news programmes were either always true or true most of the time, whereas 54 per cent said this about current affairs programmes and 33 per cent said it of reality TV programmes.
Source: Media Literacy Audit: Report on media literacy amongst children, Office of Communications (020 7981 3000)
Links: Report | Ofcom press release
Date: 2006-May
An inspectorate report explored the views of children and young people who had experience of running away from their homes, schools, or foster placements.
Source: Running Away: A children?s views report, Children's Rights Director/Commission for Social Care Inspection (0845 015 0120)
Links: Report | CSCI press release
Date: 2006-May
The Scottish Executive began consultation on proposals to require local councils to ensure that all food and drink supplied in their schools met set nutritional standards. This would not only include school meals, but also food and drink sold in vending machines. Junk food snacks and fizzy drinks not meeting the standards would be banned.
Source: Improving the Health and Nutrition of Scotland?s Children: Consultation on the Schools (Nutrition and Health Promotion) (Scotland) Bill, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Consultation document | BBC report
Date: 2006-May
An article examined health and social science research and literature in order to analyze the relationship between child health and gender.
Source: Lorraine Green, 'An unhealthy neglect? Examining the relationship between child health and gender in research and policy', Critical Social Policy, Volume 26 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Apr
A report (by an official advisory body) examined the influence of a range of social indicators on the health and health-related behaviour of children in England aged 11-15. It explored the relative importance of school, family, and neighbourhood across a number of health indicators in order to improve understanding of how best to promote the healthy development of young people.
Source: Antony Morgan, Sally Malam, Jim Muir and Rhiannon Barker, Health and Social Inequalities in English Adolescents: Exploring the importance of school, family and neighbourhood, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (0870 121 4194)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Apr
A survey found that around a quarter of children in England aged 11-15 were classified as obese in 2004.
Source: Health Survey for England 2004: Updating of trend tables to include childhood obesity data, NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre (0845 300 6016)
Links: Tables | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Apr
An article said that the lack of a gender analysis in New Labour policy in relation to child welfare and protection had led to problematic gaps at the level of policy and service provision. Although some attention was paid to the needs of fathers, including the need to involve them in service provision, this was "tokenistic" and inadequately grounded in practical realities.
Source: Brid Featherstone, 'Why gender matters in child welfare and protection', Critical Social Policy, Volume 26 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Apr
An article highlighted the gap between policy and practice in the effective risk management of sex offenders. It said that a restorative community justice approach should be used in order to manage better the risk presented by sex offenders in the community.
Source: Anne-Marie Mcalinden, 'Managing risk: from regulation to the reintegration of sexual offenders', Criminology and Criminal Justice, Volume 6 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Apr
An article said that policies with regard to child protection in general, and child neglect in particular, did not address gender issues in an explicit fashion. Social policy needed to be explicitly informed by an analysis of the gender issues underlying understandings of neglect and response to neglect.
Source: Brigid Daniel and Julie Taylor, 'Gender and child neglect: theory, research and policy', Critical Social Policy, Volume 26 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Apr
A Member of Parliament introduced a Bill designed to extend controls over video games which depicted scenes of extreme violence.
Source: Video Games Bill, Keith Vaz MP, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill
Date: 2006-Mar
A new book provided a critical review of research into how children come to understand the social world.
Source: Jeremy Carpendale and Charlie Lewis, How Children Develop Social Understanding, Blackwell Publishing (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Mar
A Member of Parliament introduced a Bill designed to establish a licensing regime for the sale or promotion of any service providing data on the location of children, where these data had been derived from any mobile telephone network, satellite system, or other electronic or communications medium.
Source: Licensing of Child Location Services Bill, Judy Mallaber MP, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | NCH press release
Date: 2006-Mar
A report examined 'attachment theory' - the theory that babies would be psychologically damaged if they did not receive 24-hour attention from their parents.
Source: Helen Barrett, Attachment and the Perils of Parenting, National Family and Parenting Institute (020 7424 3460)
Links: No link provided
Date: 2006-Mar
The Welsh Assembly government published a plan designed to improve access for children to a range of play, leisure, sporting, and cultural activities.
Source: Play in Wales: The Assembly Government s play policy implementation plan, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Plan | BBC report
Date: 2006-Feb
An audit report said that without clearer leadership from government departments there was a risk that the target to halt the rise in obesity in children under 11 would not be met.
Source: Tackling Child Obesity First Steps, HC 801 (Session 2005-06), National Audit Office with Audit Commission and Commission for Healthcare Inspection, from TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | NAO press release | DH press release | Barnardo's press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Feb
A report by a committee of MPs said that Britain was one of the safest countries in the world in terms of road deaths, and the government was on track to achieve its overall road safety targets for 2010. It was unacceptable though that, when compared internationally, Britain's record on pedestrian and, particularly, child pedestrian deaths per head of population was 'some way behind the best'.
Source: Improving Road Safety for Pedestrians and Cyclists in Great Britain, Forty-ninth Report (Session 2008-09), HC 665, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jan
The four United Kingdom children s commissioners issued a joint statement calling on the government to remove completely any defence of reasonable punishment when children were hit by their parents.
Source: Press release 22 January 2006, Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (028 9031 1616)
Links: NICCY press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Jan
The government announced that the national subsidy for school milk would be retained - despite an independent report which said that the scheme had high administrative costs and apparently small benefits for child health.
Source: Press release 13 January 2006, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (020 7238 6000) | London Economics with Susan New, Evaluation of the National Top-Up to the EU School Milk Subsidy in England, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Links: DEFRA press release | Report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jan
A report highlighted the marketing techniques used by companies to promote unhealthy food to children.
Source: Marketing of Foods to Children, Consumers' Association (020 7770 7000)
Links: Report | Food Commission press release
Date: 2006-Jan
A study found that children bereaved of a parent, sibling, or close friend were more likely than other children to have experienced a range of difficult events in their lives. These included having had a stay in hospital (around 60 per cent more likely than non-bereaved children), having a diagnosable mental health disorder (around 55 per cent), and having a parent with a serious mental illness (around 80 per cent) or major financial crisis (around 40 per cent). They were also over 60 per cent more likely to have been excluded from school.
Source: Becky Fauth, Merisa Thompson and Alison Penny, Associations Between Childhood Bereavement and Children's Background, Experiences and Outcomes: Secondary analysis of the 2004 Mental Health of Children and Young People in Great Britain data, National Children's Bureau (020 7843 6029)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jan
An article examined how three aspects of parental resources in early childhood – income, mother's mental well-being, and family status – enhanced or compromised children's cognitive and behavioural development. It also considered whether persistent poverty or persistent maternal depression were more deleterious for children's well-being than periodic episodes of poverty and depression.
Source: Kathleen Kiernan and Fiona Mensah, 'Poverty, maternal depression, family status and children's cognitive and behavioural development in early childhood: a longitudinal study', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 38 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Jan
A think-tank report said that severe psychiatric disorders in children and young people cost society as much as £1.5 billion every year owing to a lack of available treatment.
Source: Iona Joy, Matthew van Poortvliet and Clare Yeowart, Heads Up: Mental health of children and young people, New Philanthropy Capital (0207 401 8080)
Links: Summary | NPC press release
Date: 2006-Jan
The government announced that new regulations would be introduced, as a matter of urgency, to ensure that any individual working with children who had been convicted or cautioned for sex offences against children would be automatically barred from working in schools. The announcement followed an internal review, prompted by revelations that a small number of such people had been permitted to work with children.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 19 January 2006, columns 966-981, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Review of the List 99 Decision Making Process and Policy Implications, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Hansard | Review | DfES press release | Barnardo's press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jan
An article said that children were being left at risk of abuse because doctors were afraid to speak out following the "pillorying" of paediatricians in the media and by the General Medical Council.
Source: David Hall, 'The future of child protection', Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Volume 99 Issue 1
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jan
A guide was published to the most effective programmes for promoting children and young people's well-being while reducing the risks of under-achievement and anti-social behaviour.
Source: Jonathan Langman (ed.), A Guide to Promising Approaches: Second edition, Communities that Care (020 7619 0123)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Jan
A report said that people who were no risk to children or vulnerable adults were being refused employment, suspended and dismissed on the basis of "wholly irrelevant" cautions or convictions. It called for the government to urgently reform the way people with criminal records were treated in the labour market, by introducing an independent licensing authority which would hold ultimate responsibility for clearing people for employment.
Source: Getting Disclosures Right: A review of the use and misuse of criminal record disclosures, National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (020 7582 6500)
Links: NACRO press release
Date: 2006-Jan
The final report was published of an independent review of child and adolescent mental health services. Since 2004 there had been 'significant progress' within all services contributing to mental health and psychological well-being: but improvements were still not as comprehensive, as consistent or as good as they could be. The government responded by announcing a plan to set up a National Advisory Council for children's mental health and psychological well-being.
Source: Children and Young People in Mind: The final report of the National CAMHS Review, Department of Health (08701 555455) | House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 18 November 2008, columns 9-11WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | DH/DCSF press release | Hansard | MHF press release | YoungMinds press release | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jan
An article examined the cognitive and behavioural development of school-aged children by maternal employment before the child's first birthday, using data from the 1970 British Birth Cohort Study (and data from the United States of America). There was little evidence of harm to school-age children from maternal employment during a child's infancy, especially if employment was part-time, and in a context where several months of maternity leave was the norm.
Source: Elizabeth Cooksey, Heather Joshi and Georgia Verropoulou, 'Does mothers' employment affect children's development? Evidence from the children of the British 1970 Birth Cohort and the American NLSY79', Journal of Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, Volume 1 Number 1
Links: Abstract | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jan