Day care

Child care or day care is the care of a child during the day by a person other than the child's legal guardians, typically performed by someone outside the child's immediate family. Day care is typically an ongoing service during specific periods, such as the parents' time at work. The service is known as child care in the United Kingdom, crèche in Ireland and New Zealand, and child care or day care in North America and Australia (although child care also has a broader meaning). The vast majority of childcare is still performed by the parents, in-house nannies or through informal arrangements with relatives, neighbors or friends. Child care in the child's own home is traditionally provided by a nanny or au pair, or by extended family members including grandparents, aunts and uncles. Child care is provided in nurseries or crèches or by a nanny or family child care provider caring for children in their own homes. It can also take on a more formal structure, with education, child development, discipline and even preschool education falling into the fold of services.