The Effect of Infancy Childcare Center Use and Maternal Employment on Toddlers’ Language Development in South Korea

Using first to fourth wave data of the Panel Study of Korean Children (PSKC), this study explores the effects of childcare center use, maternal employment, and other child and familial characteristics on the language development of toddlers in Korea. Among the 2078 families with children in the PSKC, those who completed the Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary Test at the fourth wave were selected, and a small number of disabled or prematurely born children were excluded. In addition, to clarify the effects of maternal employment, families with mothers who were either employed or unemployed for three consecutive years during the child's infancy were selected. Regression analysis showed that neither childcare center use nor maternal employment during infancy had significant effects on toddlers’ expressive and receptive vocabulary at the fourth wave. Family characteristics, such as household poverty and maternal education level, as well as child characteristics, such as gender and birth order, had significant effects on expressed vocabulary. However, only children's gender significantly affected the receptive vocabulary level of toddlers.