In 2001, the authors assessed the quality of care provided to children in 51 care groups from 39 child-care centers in The Netherlands using the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale (T. Harms, D. Cryer, & R. M. Clifford, 1990) and compared the results with the quality of child care assessed in 1995 (M. H. van IJzendoorn, L. W. C. Tavecchio, G. J. Stams, M. J. E. Verhoeven, & E. J. Reiling, 1998) . The overall quality and scale scores for language and learning activities were significantly

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... er in 2001 than in 1995. Child-care centers founded within the past 6 years (all nonsubsidized centers) scored considerably lower than did older, mostly subsidized, centers. The results are discussed from the perspective of changes in the socioeconomic and political context of child care. THE EFFECTS OF NONPARENTAL CHILD CARE on young children's development strongly depends on the quality of the care. With regard to center-based child care, the results can be summarized as follows: Children who attend high quality child-care centers display higher levels of well-being than do children who attend low quality centers. That is, the former show more positive and less negative emotions than do the latter. In addition, children attending high-quality centers have been found to be more communicative and socially competent; to be more independent and resilient; and to have better cognitive, language, and pre-The authors thank Erna J. Reiling for her support in applying the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale and Monique van Breemen, Tamara Brockhoff, Afke van der Velden, and Marloes Vermeulen for their observations in the child-care centers.