A controversial child-care study has a message for HR

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Work/Life Balance

At first glance, the results of the largest long-- term study of child care in the United States seemed to prove that working moms really ought to feel guilty. Research findings

in the project, which was sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, show that children cared for by someone other than their mothers for more than 30 hours a week-including relatives and even dads-are more likely to display problem behavior in kindergarten. For working parents and employers, the report was profoundly disturbing.

News reports seized on the link between child care and behavior problems. One of the lead researchers-Jay Belsky, a longtime foe of day care-- cast a very negative spin on the results, arguing that working moms belong at home taking care of their kids. But a closer look at the statistics reveals them to be far less alarming. Only 17 percent of the children in day care showed "explosive," "disobedient," or "aggressive" tendencies, and even these behaviors were in the normal range. The other 83 percent displayed no such tendencies. And, since 9 percent of children who stay at home are seen by teachers as aggressive, the real differential is only 8 percent.