CHANGING ATTITUDES TOWARD DAY-CARE AND MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT AS PORTRAYED IN WOMENS MAGAZINES - 1977-1990

The treatment of day care and maternal employment effects on children was examined in 88 articles from seven popular women's magazines betwe en 1977 and 1990. Coverage of these topics increased over the 14 years . Attitudes concerning effects on children changed from all or mostly positive between 1977 and 1983 to more negative and mixed between 1984 and 1990. This increasingly negative trend reversed an earlier patter n of increasingly positive attitudes expressed in these same magazines from 1956 to 1976 (Etaugh, 1980). The mixed views of recent years app ear to reflect the conflicting opinions of child care experts regardin g effects of early day care on infant development.