±«Óãtv

Hundreds of thousands of families in Britain juggle work, children, and a fair amount of guilt on a daily basis. If both parents work, you need childcare and for a lot of people nurseries are the cheapest and only option.

Academics who study children are divided about the effects of nurseries on young children: some praise its benefits on children’s thinking and language abilities – others warn that it can lead to aggressive or disobedient behaviour. Now there are new worries about the effect that long hours in day-care can have on young children’s behaviour once they go to school.

Philipa Brewer-Dalziel’s son Keane has been going to a nursery full-time since he was two. Now that he’s started school, she’s been worrying about the effect it has had on him.