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"There is a constant dose-response relationship between time in care and problem behavior, especially those involving aggressive behavior," notes Jay Belsky, a psychologist at Birkbeck College, London, and a lead researcher for the Study of Early Child Care, a research effort tracking 1,300 American children since 1991.

There seems to be no threshold. As hours in child care increase, aggressive behavior increases. On a brighter note, children in center-based care also score higher on language and cognitive tests than their at-home peers.

Researchers also reported that bullying is widespread in American schools, based on a survey of 15,600 students, grades 6 through 10, in all kinds of schools—public, private, and parochial. The consequences of bullying are fateful. "People who were bullied as children are more likely to suffer from depression and low self-esteem, well into adulthood," says Duane Alexander, NICHD director, "and the bullies themselves are more likely to engage in criminal behavior later in life."

Much can be gleaned from these studies, and the increase in aggressive behavior in children is not another irreversible reality of contemporary culture. In many communities, churches are leading providers of services to children. But a church-based preschool that graduates a Scripture-quoting bully into kindergarten hasn't accomplished very much.

Church leaders should honestly ask themselves: If this research about child aggression stands the test of time, how should we balance the needs of working parents for quality child care with the risk that the care provided increases aggression in many young children?

There is no easy answer to that question, and resourceful congregations should creatively approach the child-care concerns in their communities. If church leaders glibly say that moderation in all things now includes child care, they will be sorely out of touch with the acute dilemma faced by many faithful families.

In 1960, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 88 percent of American children lived with both parents and fewer than one in five mothers worked outside the home.

But by 1998, nearly four decades later, the percentage of children living with both parents had dropped 20 points to 68 percent, and nearly two out of three mothers were working at least part time.

Nationwide, there are 105,000 licensed centers and 286,000 licensed family child-care homes. But in contemporary America, child-care options are quickly bumping up against their logical limit.

With the growth of weekend employment and night shifts, this summer a Texas entrepreneur hopes to roll out a national chain of for-profit, always-open child-care centers that parents could book for as many as 14 hours a day, including overnights, meals, and transportation to school.

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June 11 2001, Vol. 45, No. 8