Day care, daycare,child day care, or childcare 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.
Day care can also refer to daytime care for disabled or elderly people in both UK and US English,so child day care is often preferable at first mention.
The day care industry is a continuum from personal parental care to large, regulated institutions. Some childminders care for children from several families at the same time, either in their own home (commonly known as “family day care” in Australia) or in a specialized child care facility. Some employers provide nursery provisions for their employees at or near the place of employment. For-profit day care corporations often exist where the market is sufficiently large or there are government subsidies. Research shows that not-for-profits are much more likely to produce the high quality environments in which children thrive."