Child-Care Practices in Four African Societies: A Controlled Comparison

Abstract

Anthropologists have long been interested in the relationship between the sexual division of labor and the role of women in child—care. Some authors (Brown 1970; Ember 1983) have suggested that child—care duties limit women's economic contribution, particularly in societies that practice intensive agriculture.
Brown (1970) suggested that the degree to which women participated in subsistence production was dependent upon the compatibility of subsistence activities with simultaneous child— care responsibilities. She hypothesized that, if the economic role of women was to be maximized, their responsibilities in child—care must be reduced or the economic activity must be such that it can be carried out concurrently with child care (Brown 1970:1075). While she discussed two examples of tribal societies which employed substitute caretakers, Brown focused instead on societies that lacked substitute caretakers but were still dependent on the labor of working mothers. She refuted the suggestion that women perform certain subsistence tasks for physiological and psychological reasons. Instead, Brown suggested that only certain economic pursuits could accommodate the simultaneous child—care responsibilities of women (Brown 1970:1077).