Are non-parental caregivers important for children and young people’s wellbeing, even in societies with strong nuclear family and intensive parenting norms? This mixed-method project uses the “Children of the 90s” cohort study to investigate the role of alloparents (non-parental caregivers) in England, examining the biosocial pathways between different forms of local childrearing systems and adolescent outcomes.

CONTEXT: Western family structures are often described as nuclear, and in the UK, this is coupled with intensive parenting norms. Childrearing is seen as a private matter, and parents (particularly mothers) are predominantly viewed as being responsible for raising children. From an evolutionary anthropological perspective, this way of raising children is highly unusual: anthropological studies from across populations show that non-parental caregivers (alloparents) are ubiquitous and crucial contributors to childcare, although who helps and how they help vary. Humans have therefore been hypothesised to have evolved a unique system of “cooperative childrearing,” co-evolving with an extended period of dependence through childhood and adolescence. In essence, it takes a village to raise a child.

CURRENT CHALLENGE: Despite intensive parenting norms, families in the UK exist within varied and complex systems of support. However, while evolutionary theory points to the importance of non-parental caregivers, much of our knowledge around raising children centre on parenting with particular focus on early years. There is limited focus on alloparenting, and few studies investigate the impact of alloparental care in middle childhood despite the reliance on continued after-school/weekend childcare for many families. It is therefore unclear how families exist within local systems of childrearing, and how these systems impact children and young people’s health and wellbeing. A comprehensive understanding of the wider childrearing system is crucial to design effective policy and practice impacting parents, children, and young people.

PROJECT AIMS: This project extends the focus of childrearing from parenting to incorporate alloparenting, building a comprehensive understanding of childrearing systems in middle childhood and their pathways to adolescent wellbeing in England (UK).
Specifically, this project aims to (1) identify and classify the different typologies of childrearing systems beyond parenting within England, and (2) investigate the biosocial pathways between alloparenting, markers of stress, and adolescent outcomes including affect (anxiety/depression), socio-emotional development, and health-related risky behaviours. We use data from Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (“Children of the 90s”) which uniquely holds detailed data on alloparenting during middle childhood (age 6-12), together with biomarkers of stress/inflammation (cortisol, c-reactive protein, interleukin-6). We apply an innovative combination of quantitative and qualitative methods by quantitatively identifying typologies of caregiving (latent class analysis), deepening our understanding of these typologies by using the longitudinal data to constructing life history case studies, then test the hypothesised causal pathways through structural equation modelling.

PROJECT BENEFITS: By extending the focus of caregiving to incorporate alloparents and taking an innovative mixed-method approach, this project contributes to an in-depth understanding of middle-childhood caregiving systems and their impact on young people within a parent-focused culture; and, in doing so, we improve our understanding of human childrearing systems more broadly. Overall, this project will: improve cross-disciplinary knowledge around optimal childrearing practices in middle childhood; contribute to methodological development by applying a novel combination of mixed methods to longitudinal cohort data; and contribute knowledge towards effective policy and practice development for children and families in England and beyond.