关键词: 照料人身份, 照料人素质, 亲子照料, 儿童成长发展

Abstract: Childcare has been crucial to fertility decisions，childrens growth and development，and human capital accumulation Which one is more important for children，the caregivers identity or ability? Can high ability nonparental care substitute parental care? These questions holds important theoretical and practical implications On the one hand，only by separating the effects of caregivers identity and caregivers ability can we more accurately understand the mechanisms by which caregivers influence childrens growth and development；on the other hand，if it is caregivers ability rather than caregivers identity that plays a key role in childrens growth and development，increasing the supply of highquality care services may be a solution to the dilemma of child care 
Using the China Family Panel Studies （CFPS） from 2010 to 2020，we examine the impact of caregivers identity and caregivers ability on childrens growth and development We examined multiple dimensions of childrens development，including early development，academic achievement，cognitive ability，noncognitive ability，and health status We identify the effect of caregivers identity by comparing children cared for by their mothers and those cared for by their grandparents We use years of education to measure caregivers ability in our baseline analysis，and use their cognitive ability，noncognitive ability and health status to measure ability in robustness analysis 
We find that：（1） The key factor affecting childrens growth and development is caregivers ability rather than caregivers identity After controlling for the caregivers ability，whether or not a child is cared for by her mother has little or no statistically significant effect on childrens early development，academic performance，cognitive or noncognitive abilities；（2） Caregivers ability has a significant and lasting effect on childrens growth and development The higher the caregivers ability，the better the childrens academic achievement，cognitive and noncognitive development，and the less likely they get sick；（3） Maternal care can amplify the impact of caregivers ability on early childhood development，academic performance，cognitive ability，and health status；（4） Caregivers with high ability tend to have a stronger sense of parenting responsibility，higher expectations of their children，more scientific parenting modes，more interactions with their children，and more time and energy invested in their childrens care Highability mothers have higher expectations for their childrens educational achievements，interact more with children and invest more in education
Those findings imply that increasing the supply of highquality public or marketbased care services is a possible way to promote fertility without harming childrens growth and development

Key words: caregiver's identity, caregivers ability, parental care, childrens development