In Sweden, children can start preschool at the earliest when they turn one year old. But some parents are worried about letting their children start preschool early. So says Jonas Jessen, postdoc at the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) in Bonn and one of the authors behind a new study from the Swedish Association of Business and Society (SNS).

"At twelve months old, the babies are still quite small, sometimes they can't walk. We can give a positive message to the parents, that they do not have to worry about the child and its development," he says.

In the report, the researchers have reviewed previous research from a number of countries where children who have started preschool early have been compared with children who have stayed at home longer with their parents.

And an early start to preschool does not have to be negative for the child's development, the study shows. In some cases, it may instead be the other way around.

Beneficent

During the baby's first six months, the researchers saw that being at home with a parent was beneficial for its development. It could have effects on school performance, health measures and even in working life later in life.

But after about six months, the researchers no longer found evidence that children's development benefited from longer parental leave, if at the same time there was good childcare in the country.

However, there is little research on the effects of starting preschool already at six months of age, Jonas Jessen emphasizes.

Developed socially

Good quality childcare can help increase all children's social skills and even out the differences between children's conditions, according to the researchers.

The group that benefits most from starting preschool early is children from socially disadvantaged homes, the study shows. Children of immigrant parents who started preschool early benefited not only in their language development.

"They also tended to have better social skills, for example. Because it's an area where childcare is very valuable, where kids learn to interact with other kids," Jessen said.