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.

According to 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".