Social conditions of children in day-care centers and nurseries in Nigeria.

A study of the social conditions of 278 children of Nigerian working mothers attending day-care centers and nurseries in Ibadan reveals that about one quarter of the children were under the age of 2 years and were known to spend 6-11 h every day in the child-care centres and away from their parents. Nearly half of the children were placed in such preschool institutions because parents felt that children learnt more from nursery education. About one third were so placed because there was no one at home to care for them whilst their parents, mostly professionals, were away at work. The study further shows that in some cases where the work period of the mothers exceeded the opening hours of the child-care centres, the substitute mother-figures were often unsuitable. In order to prevent emotional disturbances which can occur following mother-child separation in early life, it is suggested that the quality of care in these child-care centres be improved upon and opportunities for mothers to interact with their children created. To this end, management utilizing the services of working mothers must provide day-care and nursery facilities for the children of their female employees.