Discourse, policy, and research on early childhood care and development have largely focused on parents—their roles, knowledge, and practices. Yet raising a child is inherently collective and intergenerational. Historical and evolving sociocultural contexts highlight the growing involvement of diverse “significant others” in nurturing young children. This study explores the childcare experiences of Filipino parents during their children’s early years, from infancy to preschool (0–4 years old). Drawing from 17 key informant interviews with Filipino parents, the study emphasizes the vital contributions of multiple caregivers—including siblings, grandparents, other relatives, yayas or kasambahays (domestic helpers), and community members such as daycare teachers and health workers—in shaping parenting practices and ensuring young children’s well-being. Using an inductive approach, the analysis interrogates institutionalized, parent-centric assumptions that dominate early childhood care and development discourse. The findings underscore the indispensable roles of these significant others in children’s early development and in everyday parenting practices.
Adjei-BoadiDAgyei-MensahSAdamkiewiczG, et al. (2022) Neighbourhood, built environment and children’s outdoor play spaces in urban Ghana: Review of policies and challenges. Landscape and Urban Planning218(2): 104288.
2.
AhunMNJeongJKiefferMP, et al. (2021) Maternal and paternal perspectives on parenting stress in rural Tanzania: A qualitative study. Mental Health1(4): 100030.
3.
AlampayLP (2014) Parenting in the Philippines. In: SelinHSchvaneveldyP (eds) Science Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Science. Springer, pp.105–121.
4.
Arellano-CarandangML (1987) Filipino Children Under Stress: Family Dynamics and Therapy. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
5.
ArmstrongKJBergALachmanA (2023) Nannies or creche: Exploring child carers’ knowledge of the first 1000 days and their perception of the significance of their role as carers. Early Child Development and Care193: 754–766.
6.
AsuncionRA (2014) The domestic workers act of the Philippines: Issues, challenges and concerns. Labour and Industry24(4): 317–330.
7.
BemanalizadehMBadihianNKhoshhaliM, et al. (2022) Effect of parenting intervention through ‘care for child development guideline’ on early child development and behaviors: A randomized controlled trial. BMC Pediatrics22(1): 690.
8.
BhanaDMoosaSXuY, et al. (2022) Men in early childhood education and care: On navigating a gendered terrain. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal30(4): 543–556.
9.
BianaHTJavierRJrJabarM (2021) Assessing cultural, linguistic, and indigenous competencies: The case of early childhood care and development teachers in the Philippines. Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Association15(1): 137–155.
10.
BornsteinMHRothenbergWALansfordJE (2021) Change over time in four domains of parenting in diverse international contexts. In: LansfordJERothenbergWABornsteinMH (eds) Parenting Across Cultures From Childhood to Adolescence. Routledge, pp.227–263.
11.
BornsteinMHRothenbergWAPutnickDL, et al. (2025) Multiple child caregivers and multiple cognitive caregiving practices: Associations with early childhood development in 51 low- and middle-income countries. International Journal of Behavioral Development. Epub ahead of print 29 April 2025. DOI: 10.1177/01650254251336145
BowmanJColeA (2009) Do working mothers oppress other women? The Swedish ‘maid debate’ and the welfare state politics of gender equality. Signs35(1): 157–184.
14.
BrittoPRLyeSJProulxK, et al. (2017) Nurturing care: Promoting early childhood development. Lancet389(10064): 91–102.
15.
BúrikováZS (2019) Au pairs, nannies and babysitters: Paid care as a temporary life course experience in Slovakia and in the UK. Feminist Review122(1): 80–94.
16.
ButlerATeasleyCSánchez-BlancoC (2020) A decolonial, intersectional approach to disrupting whiteness, neoliberalism, and patriarchy in western early childhood education and care. In: ButlerATeasleyCSánchez-BlancoC (eds) Handbook of Theory and Research in Cultural Studies and Education. Springer International Publishing, pp.41–58.
17.
CannellaGS (2005) Reconceptualizing the field of early care and education. Critical Issues in Early Childhood Education17, pp.17–39.
18.
ChanSWYRaoNCohrssenC, et al. (2021) Predicting child outcomes in Bhutan: Contributions of parenting support and early childhood education programmes. Children and Youth Services Review126: 106051.
19.
ChojnackaBIwańskiR (2022) Young carers and parentification–between support and responsibility: Involving the child in the functioning of the family. Journal of Family Issues43(11): 2910–2932.
20.
ClarksonLBothaMLindeJVD (2025) The comparison between outdoor play spaces, equipment, and resources in low versus high socioeconomic Johannesburg early childhood development centres. Early Childhood Education Journal53: 1–15.
21.
ColeyRLVotruba-DrzalECollinsM, et al. (2016) Comparing public, private, and informal preschool programs in a national sample of low-income children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly36: 91–105.
22.
CoxR (2011) Competitive mothering and delegated care: Class relationships in nanny and au pair employment. Studies in the Maternal3(2): 1–13.
23.
CuartasJJeongJRey-GuerraC, et al. (2020) Maternal, paternal, and other caregivers’ stimulation in low- and- middle-income countries. Public Library of Science15(7): e0236107.
24.
DahlbergGMossPPenceA (2007) Beyond Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care. Routledge.
25.
De GuzmanABObmergaMERoncesvallesMCT, et al. (2018a) As you sow, so shall you reap: Understanding the social-emotional development of a select group of Filipino grandchildren reared by grandparent educators. Educational Gerontology44(8): 514–525.
26.
de GuzmanMRT (2014) Yaya: Philippine domestic care workers, the children they care for, and the children they leave behind. International Perspectives in Psychology Research Practice Consultation3(3): 197–214.
27.
De GuzmanMRTGarciaASTuliaoMD (2018b) Fictive Kinships and the Remaking of Family Life in the Context of Paid Domestic Work. Oxford University Press.
28.
EldénSAnvingT (2019) Nanny care in Sweden: The inequalities of everyday doings of care. Journal of European Social Policy29(5): 614–626.
29.
EnglePLFernaldLCAldermanH, et al. (2011) Strategies for reducing inequalities and improving developmental outcomes for young children in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet378(9799): 1339–1353.
30.
EvansDKJakielaP (2025) The role of fathers in promoting early childhood development in low- and middle-income countries: A review of the evidence. World Bank Research Observer40(2): 211–228.
31.
FairclothCHoffmanDMLayneLL (eds) (2013) Parenting in Global Perspective: Negotiating Ideologies of Kinship, Self and Politics. Routledge.
32.
FenechM (2011) An analysis of the conceptualisation of ‘quality’ in early childhood education and care empirical research: Promoting ‘blind spots’ as foci for future research. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood12(2): 102–117.
33.
FerlaJPGillMMKombaT, et al. (2023) Improvement of community health worker counseling skills through early childhood development (ECD) videos, supervision and mentorship: A mixed methods pre-post evaluation from Tanzania. PLOS Global Public Health3(6): e0001152.
34.
FleerM (2003) Early childhood education as an evolving ‘community of practice’ or as lived ‘social reproduction’: Researching the taken-for-granted. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood4(1): 64–79.
35.
GarabilesMROfreneoMAPHallBJ (2017) Towards a model of resilience for transnational families of Filipina domestic workers. PLoS One12(8): e0183703.
36.
García-SánchezIM (2018) Children as interactional brokers of care. Annual Review of Anthropology47(1): 167–184.
37.
GhoshSDeyS (2020) Public or private? Determinants of parents’ preschool choice in India. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy14(1): 1–16.
38.
Go Tian-NgRLUmandapJD (2023) An exposition of the multidimensionality of the tagasalo personality. In: GregorioVLBatanCMBlairSL (eds) Resilience and Familism: The Dynamic Nature of Families in the Philippines. Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research Emerald Publishing Limited, pp.103–125.
39.
GuestGNameyEChenM (2020) A simple method to assess and report thematic saturation in qualitative research. PLoS One15(5): e0232076.
40.
HamiltonMAdamsonEWilliamsA, et al. (2025) The relationship between public policy and grandparents’ involvement in childcare: A scoping review of the international evidence. Social Policy and Society1–20. Cambridge University Press (CUP).
41.
JanssenLZwierDvan de WerfhorstH (2024) Privatization of preschool education: The implications for educational inequalities in cross-national perspective. Acta Sociologica67(3): 282–300.
42.
JeongJFranchettEERamos de OliveiraCV, et al. (2021) Parenting interventions to promote early child development in the first three years of life: A global systematic review and meta-analysis. Plos Medicine18(5): e1003602.
43.
KambutuJAkpovoSMNgangaL, et al. (2020) Privatization of early childhood education (ECE): Implications for social justice in Nepal and Kenya. Policy Futures in Education18(6): 700–724.
44.
KimETStrouseDSandovalS, et al. (2025) The contribution of non-primary caregivers in early stimulation in Kenya and Uganda: Implications for ECD parenting programs in low- and middle-income countries. PLoS One20(5): e0323830.
45.
LancyDF (2022) The value of children. In: The Anthropology of Childhood: Cherubs, Chattel, Changelings. Cambridge University Press, pp.27–73.
46.
LuCCuartasJFinkG, et al. (2020) Inequalities in early childhood care and development in low/middle-income countries: 2010-2018. BMJ Global Health5(2): e002314.
47.
MacdonaldCL (2011) Shadow Mothers: Nannies, Au Pairs, and the Micropolitics of Mothering. University of California Press.
48.
MacPheeDFritzJMiller-HeylJ (1996) Ethnic variations in personal social networks and parenting. Child Development67(6): 3278–3295.
49.
MagantorJ (2024) Family psychological distress among OFW parents and their children in the Middle East: A mixed method study. Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies50(11): 33–45.
50.
MaSChenEELiH (2020) Foreign domestic helpers’ involvement in non-parental childcare: A multiple case study in Hong Kong. Journal of Research in Childhood Education34(3): 427–446.
51.
McDonaldPColesLThorpeK (2024) How women educators frame the scarcity of men in early childhood education and care. Gender and Education36(5): 510–526.
52.
McKenzieL (2022) Parenthood: Beyond maternity and paternity. Feminist Anthropology3(2): 299–306.
53.
McLinMNadorffD (2023) Nonparental caregiver differences in locus of control and GPA of grandchildren and foster children. Innovation in Aging7(1): 954.
54.
MezzenzanaF (2020) Between will and thought: Individualism and social responsiveness in Amazonian child rearing. American Anthropologist122(3): 540–553.
55.
MoheizeSHsuMMatizLA, et al. (2024) The role of an early childhood community health worker in addressing psycho-social needs in the perinatal and early childhood period. Journal of Primary Care and Community Health15: 1–7.
56.
MorelliGQuinnNChaudharyN, et al. (2018) Ethical challenges of parenting interventions in low- to middle-income countries. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology49(1): 5–24.
57.
MorrisonJPikhartHRuizM, et al. (2014) Systematic review of parenting interventions in European countries aiming to reduce social inequalities in children’s health and development. BMC Public Health14(1): 1040.
58.
NelsonNPacini-KetchabawVNxumaloF (2018) Rethinking nature-based approaches in early childhood education: Common worlding practices. Journal of Childhood Studies43(1): 4–14.
59.
NxumaloF (2019) Decolonizing Place in Early Childhood Education. Routledge.
60.
ParrenasR (2005) Long distance intimacy: Class, gender and intergenerational relations between mothers and children in Filipino transnational families. Global Networks5(4): 317–336.
61.
PeetersJRohrmannTEmilsenK (2015) Gender balance in ECEC: Why is there so little progress?European Early Childhood Education Research Journal23(3): 302–314.
62.
PeltoG (2008) Taking care of children: Applying anthropology in maternal and child nutrition and health. Human Organization67(3): 237–243.
63.
PeltoperäKMoilanenS (2024) Rational or emotional decisions? Parents’ nonstandard work hours and the justifications for using informal childcare. Community Work and Family28: 1–24.
64.
RaikesAAlvarenga LimaJHAbuchaimB (2023) Early childhood education in Brazil: Child rights to ECE in context of great disparities. Children10(6): 919.
65.
RenHHartCHCheahCSL, et al. (2024) Parenting measurement, normativeness, and associations with child outcomes: Comparing evidence from four non-Western cultures. Developmental Science27(5): e13388.
66.
SadownikARVišnjić JevtićA (2023) (Re)theorisation of more-than-parental involvement: New directions and hopes. In: SadownickARVišnjić JevtićA (eds) International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development. Springer, pp.191–203.
67.
SadruddinAFAPongutaLAZondermanAL, et al. (2019) How do grandparents influence child health and development? A systematic review. Social Science and Medicine239(112476): 112476.
68.
ScheideckerG (2023) Parents, caregivers, and peers: Patterns of complementarity in the social world of children in rural Madagascar. Current Anthropology64(3): 286–320.
69.
SchipperijnJMadsenCDToftagerM, et al. (2024) The role of playgrounds in promoting children’s health - A scoping review. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity21: 72.
70.
SchorrSGoldnerL (2023) ‘Like stepping on glass’: A theoretical model to understand the emotional experience of childhood parentification. Family Relations72(5): 3029–3048.
71.
SharpeL (2024) Parentification: Identifying young caregivers at risk. Journal for Nurse Practitioners20(5): 104930.
72.
SpierELeenknechtFCarsonK, et al. (2019) Tipping the scales: Overcoming obstacles to support school readiness for all in low- and middle-income countries. Early Years39(3): 229–242.
73.
SprayJ (2018) The value of anthropology in child health policy. Anthropology in Action 25(1): 29–40.
74.
SudoMLowPHXKyeongY, et al. (2025) Grandparents’ and domestic helpers’ childcare support: Implications for well-being in Asian families. Journal of Marriage and Family87: 134–156. Epub ahead of print 24 May 2024. DOI: 10.1111/jomf.13010
75.
SullivanVColesLXuY, et al. (2023) Men times ten: Does the presence of more men support inclusion of male educators in early childhood education and care?Gender and Education35(1): 18–36.
76.
TangSHKYungLCW (2016) Maids or mentors? The effects of live-in foreign domestic workers on children’s educational achievement in Hong Kong. Education Economics24(1): 96–120.
77.
ThorpeKSullivanVJansenE, et al. (2020) A man in the centre: Inclusion and contribution of male educators in early childhood education and care teaching teams. Early Child Development and Care190(6): 921–934.
78.
UlepVGCasasLDManuelAC, et al. (2024) Behind the Slow Start: An Assessment of Early Childhood Care and Development in the Philippines. Report. 2nd May. Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
Van LaereKVandenbroeckMRoetsG, et al. (2014) Challenging the feminisation of the workforce: Rethinking the mind–body dualism in early childhood education and care. Gender and Education26(3): 232–245.
81.
YellandNAndrewYBlaiseM, et al. (2013) ‘We spend more time with the children than they do . . .’: Education, care and the work of foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong. Globalisation Societies and Education11(4): 443–458.
82.
ZhangLSsewanyanaDMartinM-C, et al. (2021) Supporting child development through parenting interventions in low- to middle-income countries: An updated systematic review. Frontiers in Public Health9: 1–20.
