Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T14:50:13.888Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The generation game is the cooperation game: The role of grandparents in the timing of reproduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 April 2010

Rebecca Sear  and
Thomas E. Dickins
Rebecca Sear
Affiliation:
Department of Social Policy, London School of Economics, London WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom. r.sear@lse.ac.ukhttp://personal.lse.ac.uk/SEAR/
Thomas E. Dickins
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of East London, London E15 4LZ, United Kingdom. dickins@uel.ac.ukhttp://www.uel.ac.uk/psychology/staff/tomdickins.htm
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Coall & Hertwig (C&H) demonstrate the importance of grandparents to children, even in low fertility societies. We suggest policy-makers interested in reproductive timing in such contexts should be alerted to the practical applications of this cooperative breeding framework. The presence or absence of a supportive kin network could help explain why some women begin their reproductive careers “too early” or “too late.”

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 33 , Issue 1 , February 2010 , pp. 34 - 35
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cater, S. & Coleman, L. (2006) “Planned” teenage pregnancy: Perspectives of young parents from disadvantaged backgrounds. Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The Policy Press.Google Scholar
Johns, S. E., Dickins, T. E. & Clegg, H. (in submission) Teenage pregnancy and motherhood: How might evolutionary theory inform policy? Google Scholar
Lee, E., Clements, S., Ingham, R. & Stone, N. (2004) A matter of choice? Explaining national variation in teenage abortion and motherhood. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation. York Publishing Services.Google Scholar
Mathews, P. S. & Sear, R. (in preparation) Kin orientation and the timing of first birth: Evidence from the British Household Panel Survey.Google Scholar
Ministry of Social Development, New Zealand (2009) The Social Report . Available at: http://www.socialreport.msd.govt.nz/people/fertility.html Google Scholar
Nettle, D., Coall, D. A. & Dickins, T. E. (2010) Birthweight and paternal involvement predict early reproduction in British women: Evidence from the British National Child Development Study. American Journal of Human Biology 22(2):172–79.Google Scholar
Nettle, D., Dickins, T. E. & Coall, D. A. (in submission.) Patterns of physical and psychological development in future teenage mothers.Google Scholar
Newson, L., Postmes, T., Lea, S. E. G. & Webley, P. (2005) Why are modern families small? Toward an evolutionary and cultural explanation for the demographic transition. Personality and Social Psychology Review 9(4):360–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Turke, P. W. (1989) Evolution and the demand for children. Population and Development Review 15:61–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar