We conducted several analyses regarding the impacts of family policies on children's psychomotor development and mental health. First, we evaluated associations between children's attendance of daycare and later psychomotor development. Analyses conducted using ELFE cohort data indicate that among the 11,033 participating children, in comparison with those who were in exclusive parental care, centre-based childcare (CBC) and childminder attendance were significantly associated with lower odds of probable developmental delay. Second, we tested the association between childcare attendance and children's emotional and behavioral difficulties using data from the EU Child Cohort Network, a consortium of six European child birth cohorts. Among a total of 87,208 parent-child dyads from Denmark, France, Netherlands, Spain, and England, we tested associations between childcare attendance anytime between ages 0-4 years and children’s psychological difficulties in middle childhood and young adolescence. Compared to children who were in exclusive parental care prior to school entry, those who attended centre-based childcare had lower levels of emotional difficulties through early adolescence. Children who attended informal childcare appeared to have elevated levels of emotional difficulties between 7-9 and 10-13 years. Third, we tested associations between the father's access to a paternity leave in the first six months after the child's birth and parental mental health as well as children's language acquisition at the age of two years in the ELFE cohort. We found that fathers who take paternity leave are less likely to experience postnatal depression and their children have higher levels of language acquisition. This is especially the case among high-SES families. Fourth, among 10520 children taking part in the ELFE cohort study, we found that at age 5.5 years, there is a higher prevalence of possible developmental delay among older siblings (12.9%) than among younger siblings (9.7%). Mother's education level predicts lower developmental delay regardless of birth order. Fifth, a qualitative study in the city of Nanterre, near Paris, showed that families with young children who are socioeconomically advantaged tend to be more mobile and access playgrounds that are farther from the place where they live, while those who experience socioeconomic difficulties tend to primarily use playgrounds that are situated in proximity to their residence.
