Alloparenting

In biology and sociology, alloparenting is where individuals other than the actual parents act in a parental role.

One common form of alloparenting is where grandparents adopt a parental role. This is sometimes named a "skipped generation household". In 1997, 8% of children in the United States lived with their grandparents, with the grandparents being the caregivers in one third of those cases.ref|TRPER

According to Deihlref|Deihl, the Efé people of Ituri Forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo practice alloparenting, with care for infants coming from siblings, grandparents, and older members of the community. Deihl states that where siblings are alloparents this provides adolescents experience of being a parent, and that similar practice in the United States would reduce the rate of teenage pregnancy and make teenage parents "better parent [s] when they do become parents".

References

# cite web
url=http://www.unt.edu/cpe/module1/blk6allo.htm
title=Alloparenting
work=Texas Registry of Parent Educator Resources
accessdate=2005-12-28
# cite web
url=http://www.oberlin.edu/faculty/ndarling/transition/group9/efekorean.html
title=Cross-Cultural Perspective on Adolescent Parenting: Efe and Korea
work=How do adolescents transition into parenthood?
author=Erin Deihl
accessdate=2005-12-28