Are is the primary consideration in determining fostering arrangements, but bridewealth emerges as an important source of cultural and legal capital when there is a dispute or insecurity. However, not all caregiving arrangements are negotiated based on the presence or absence of bridewealth. For example, two of the grandmothers I interviewed extensively were caring for their daughters’ children even though bridewealth had been paid, at least in part. In contrast, CBIC2 supplier another grandmother was caring for her paternal grandchildren even though bridewealth had not been paid. In the current context of marital instability and illness, many young women across Africa are choosing to have children outside of marriage (MukizaGapere Ntozi 1995). In 2009, 51.5 per cent of men and 34.3 per cent of women (ages 15 to 49) in Lesotho had never married. Yet the fertility rate remains high, especially among rural populations, at an average of four births per woman (Lesotho Ministry of Health and Social Welfare 2010). During my initial exploratory research, I asked for paternal information as part of standard household data collection. If a girl was unmarried, the common response was that the father was unknown. These de facto fatherless children are disadvantaged in that the disassociation with their paternal kin reduces their potential network of kin-based support. However, a possible benefit is that it allows young women to participate in childbearing, which is still an important rite of passage for many African women (Booth 2004; Pearce 1995), while protecting them and their natal kin’s status as primary caregiver if the relationship fails or they die. Inherent tensions in current caregiving trends exist because caregivers are in short supply. Families engage in contested negotiations about who will care for orphans, as children areAuthor Litronesib web Manuscript Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptJ R Anthropol Inst. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2015 April 08.BlockPagehighly valued by Basotho, but they also often have intensive caregiving needs. These tensions result from the complex ways people regard their social and moral obligations to kin and the extremely limited resources families may be able to devote to another dependent child. These dynamics are further complicated by the expectation that children will be a potential source of labour as they age. The caregivers’ anxieties examined here stem at least in part from the potential for loss of labour, although in many cases the child’s long-term survival at the time of household migration was not assured. Additionally, while the care of young children costs a great deal of time and energy, the care of older children requires considerable investments in education. These various tensions leading to decisions about care point to a range of competing pressures which caregivers must navigate. In several cases, caregivers were initially reluctant to care for the children but ultimately expressed satisfaction with their living situation because they established reciprocal dependencies as well as emotional bonds with them. The negotiation of care for 3-year-old Lebo and his siblings was such a case. ‘M’e Masello, the maternal grandmother, initially did not want to care for the children, yet she was deemed to be the best person by the paternal family, and therefore the children were left with her. She explained how she came to care for the children: After the death of [Lebo’s] mother, when we were a.Are is the primary consideration in determining fostering arrangements, but bridewealth emerges as an important source of cultural and legal capital when there is a dispute or insecurity. However, not all caregiving arrangements are negotiated based on the presence or absence of bridewealth. For example, two of the grandmothers I interviewed extensively were caring for their daughters’ children even though bridewealth had been paid, at least in part. In contrast, another grandmother was caring for her paternal grandchildren even though bridewealth had not been paid. In the current context of marital instability and illness, many young women across Africa are choosing to have children outside of marriage (MukizaGapere Ntozi 1995). In 2009, 51.5 per cent of men and 34.3 per cent of women (ages 15 to 49) in Lesotho had never married. Yet the fertility rate remains high, especially among rural populations, at an average of four births per woman (Lesotho Ministry of Health and Social Welfare 2010). During my initial exploratory research, I asked for paternal information as part of standard household data collection. If a girl was unmarried, the common response was that the father was unknown. These de facto fatherless children are disadvantaged in that the disassociation with their paternal kin reduces their potential network of kin-based support. However, a possible benefit is that it allows young women to participate in childbearing, which is still an important rite of passage for many African women (Booth 2004; Pearce 1995), while protecting them and their natal kin’s status as primary caregiver if the relationship fails or they die. Inherent tensions in current caregiving trends exist because caregivers are in short supply. Families engage in contested negotiations about who will care for orphans, as children areAuthor Manuscript Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptJ R Anthropol Inst. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2015 April 08.BlockPagehighly valued by Basotho, but they also often have intensive caregiving needs. These tensions result from the complex ways people regard their social and moral obligations to kin and the extremely limited resources families may be able to devote to another dependent child. These dynamics are further complicated by the expectation that children will be a potential source of labour as they age. The caregivers’ anxieties examined here stem at least in part from the potential for loss of labour, although in many cases the child’s long-term survival at the time of household migration was not assured. Additionally, while the care of young children costs a great deal of time and energy, the care of older children requires considerable investments in education. These various tensions leading to decisions about care point to a range of competing pressures which caregivers must navigate. In several cases, caregivers were initially reluctant to care for the children but ultimately expressed satisfaction with their living situation because they established reciprocal dependencies as well as emotional bonds with them. The negotiation of care for 3-year-old Lebo and his siblings was such a case. ‘M’e Masello, the maternal grandmother, initially did not want to care for the children, yet she was deemed to be the best person by the paternal family, and therefore the children were left with her. She explained how she came to care for the children: After the death of [Lebo’s] mother, when we were a.
