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Women’s work, child care, and helpers-at-the-nest in a hunter-gatherer society

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Abstract

Considerable research on helpers-at-the-nest demonstrates the positive effects of firstborn daughters on a mother’s reproductive success and the survival of her children compared with women who have firstborn sons. This research is largely restricted to agricultural settings. In the present study we ask: “Does ‘daughter first’ improve mothers’ reproductive success in a hunting and gathering context?” Through an analysis of 84 postreproductive women in this population we find that the sex of the first- or second-born child has no effect on a mother’s fertility or the survival of her offspring. We conclude that specific environmental and economic factors underlay the helpers-at-the-nest phenomenon.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology and Geography, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 68588, Lincoln, NE

    Raymond Hames & Patricia Draper

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  1. Raymond Hames
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  2. Patricia Draper
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Correspondence to Raymond Hames.

Additional information

The primary data presented here were gathered by Patricia Draper and funded by a grant from the National Institute of Aging (grant AG03110) to Christine Fry and Jennie Keith. The authors would like to thank Elizabeth Cashdan, Alice Schlegel, Donna Leonetti, and Sarah Hrdy for their insightful comments on the paper. This paper was originally presented at the Annual Meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, University College London, England, June 13–17, 2001.

Raymond Hames is a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Nebraska. His research interests are in behavioral and evolutionary ecology, exchange systems, and tropical forest peoples.

Patricia Draper is also a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Nebraska. Her research interests are in cross-cultural human development, evolutionary theory, hunter-gatherer society, and comparative family organization.

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Hames, R., Draper, P. Women’s work, child care, and helpers-at-the-nest in a hunter-gatherer society. Hum Nat 15, 319–341 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-004-1012-x

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