In England, a child's wellbeing may depend as much on grandparents, neighbours, and childminders as on their parents. This project uses the long-running "Children of the 90s" study to ask whether non-parental caregivers—called alloparents—matter for adolescent health and development, even in a society that prizes intensive, nuclear-family parenting. Current research overwhelmingly focuses on mothers and the early years. Yet many UK families rely on a wider network of relatives, friends, and paid carers, especially during middle childhood. We know almost nothing about how these "local childrearing systems" shape a young person's biology and behaviour. This matters because policy and support services are designed around a narrow model of parenting that may miss the real influences on children's lives. If successful, the research will map the biosocial pathways—stress hormones, social bonding, and behaviour—that link different caregiving arrangements to adolescent outcomes. This could reshape how policymakers think about childcare, family support, and school-based interventions. It might also challenge the assumption that raising children is a private, parental responsibility, opening the door to more community-oriented approaches to child wellbeing.
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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 viewed as being predominantly responsible for raising children. From an evolutionary anthropological perspective, this way of raising children is highly unusual: anthropological studies show that non-parental caregivers (alloparents) are ubiquitous and crucial contributors to childcare across cultures. It has therefore been hypothesised that humans evolved a unique system of cooperative childrearing, co-evolving with an extended period of dependence throughout childhood and adolescence. In essence, it takes a village to raise a child. CURRENT CHALLENGE While evolutionary theory points to the importance of non-parental caregivers, our current knowledge surrounding raising children centre on parenting, with particular focus on the early years. However, despite the intensive parenting norms, families in the UK exist within varied and complex systems of support. In addition to parents, alloparents such as family, friends, and professional caregivers are often involved in children's lives. This "local childrearing system" likely remains important beyond the early years, with many families requiring after-school/weekend childcare. Yet, it is unclear how families exist within local childrearing systems, 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.
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