Singleton status of parents and intergenerational childcare collaboration in urban Chinese families

My study conceptualises intergenerational childcare collaboration as a dynamic, contested process embedded in multiple family relationships and shaped by parents’ singleton status. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 66 urban Chinese parents, I compare three types of families (singleton couples, non-singleton couples and mixed couples) to reveal the variation and complexity of intergenerational collaboration in raising two children. My findings contribute to sociological debates on intergenerational relations by moving beyond the grandparent–parent dyad in intergenerational childcare and highlighting the impacts of parents’ adult sibling structure on their entitlement to and negotiation of intergenerational childcare resources and support. The findings reveal new family norms and complicated family dynamics in allocating intergenerational childcare support among extended family networks.