Maternal support among monogamously and polygynously married Gambian women: How do polygyny and religiosity affect women's cooperative networks?

Anthropologists recognize that humans are cooperative breeders, with alloparenting—care provided by individuals other than the biological parents—playing a critical role in child health and development. The extent and sources of this alloparental care vary significantly due to socioecological variation in access to resources, post-marital residence, and marriage systems. It has been suggested that relative to children born to monogamous marriages, children born of polygynous unions may receive less paternal and patrilineal care due to a father’s resources being diluted across multiple wives and children, and that this reduction in care is one potential pathway by which these children often have comparatively poorer growth and health outcomes. However, the impact of a woman’s polygynous marriage on her broader alloparental network remains unknown. This study examined how a mother’s marriage type (monogamous vs. polygynous) affected alloparental care from both family members and unrelated community members. Using Bayesian analyses of data collected in collaboration with 474 mothers in The Gambia, we found that while children in polygynous marriages are less likely to receive care from their father and their father’s family, this is offset by a greater likelihood of receiving care from unrelated community members. Overall, we found no difference in the total amount of alloparental care between children born to monogamously and polygynously married women. However, sources of care differed, and these differences may have important implications for child health and survival. Our results emphasize the need for further research to explore how care from different sources influences child health.