Parenting & Coparenting
Parenting and coparenting are important processes that help children develop in healthy ways. Parenting relationships represent a connection between parents (including biological, step, foster, adoptive) and their children, while coparenting represents the relationship between two or more adults who share responsibility for raising a child. Family structures, roles and responsibilities, and living arrangements have become increasingly varied over the past couple decades. Parents often support children across multiple households and coparent with a variety of adults (e.g., current partner, ex-partner, grandparents).
Child Trends collects and analyzes quantitative and qualitative data, conducts program evaluations, and provides training and technical assistance to understand parenting and coparenting relationship dynamics and the effects of these relationships on parents and children. We examine biological and non-biological mother, father, and caregiver relationships with children. We study the coparenting relationships of parents who are in committed romantic relationships with each other and those who are no longer or were never in a relationship; coparents who live together and those who don’t; and whether and how other family members may serve as coparents. We research a range of human services programs that focus on teaching parenting skills or work with coparents to improve their cooperation and limit coparenting conflict. These programs serve and support mothers, fathers, step-parents, or foster parents, and many are developed to work specifically with adolescent parents/coparents. Through this research, we generate strengths-focused, equity-based, and action-oriented recommendations for funders, program developers, and program implementers working to provide high-quality and effective parenting and coparenting services and relationship supports.
