Allomaternal Care among the Hadza of Tanzania

Cooperative child care among humans, where individuals other than the biological mother (allomothers) provide care, may increase a mother’s fertility and the survivorship of her children. Although the potential benefits to the mother are clear, the motivations for allomothers to provide care are les...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Human nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2008-09, Vol.19 (3), p.249-262
Main Authors: Crittenden, Alyssa N., Marlowe, Frank W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropology
Behavioral Sciences
Biological Psychology
Caregivers
Child care
Cultural anthropology
Families & family life
Fertility
Kinship
Mothers
Native peoples
Social Sciences
Tanzania
Traditional Societies
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Summary:Cooperative child care among humans, where individuals other than the biological mother (allomothers) provide care, may increase a mother’s fertility and the survivorship of her children. Although the potential benefits to the mother are clear, the motivations for allomothers to provide care are less clear. Here, we evaluate the kin selection allomothering hypothesis using observations on Hadza hunter-gatherers collected in ten camps over 17 months. Our results indicate that related allomothers spend the largest percentage of time holding children. The higher the degree of relatedness among kin, the more time they spend holding, supporting the hypothesis of nepotism as the strongest motivation for providing allomaternal care. Unrelated helpers of all ages also provide a substantial amount of investment, which may be motivated by learning to mother, reciprocity, or coercion.
ISSN:1045-6767
1936-4776
DOI:10.1007/s12110-008-9043-3