If policies enhancing human development are to be put into practice then consideration is needed of the contribution of women to the labour market in sub-Saharan Africa, where women have the highest rates of economic activity and fertility in a context of the highest levels of maternal and child mortality in the world. Published in association with the International Labour Office (ILO)BR>

A study of familial contexts of child care and education fifty years ago in Northern Ghana underlines the significance of multiple parental figures and cooperative care. Issues for contemporary social policy are raised.