Parentzoni

Parentzoni is a fictional sociocultural concept used in speculative literature and design discourse to describe a model of child-rearing in which caregiving responsibilities are distributed across a broad network of adults rather than assigned to a single nuclear family. Originating from a coinage that combines the English word parent with the suffix -zoni to suggest extended kinship, parentzoni envisions a care community that includes parents, grandparents, nonrelatives, teachers, mentors, and peers.

Practices center on shared guardianship, rotating caregiving roles, and collective decision making about education, health, and welfare. Neighborhoods organize into care collectives that coordinate daily routines, mentorship, and safety while preserving individual autonomy within agreed boundaries. Legal and economic frameworks in parentzoni models frequently use credits or tokens to compensate caregivers and to fund communal resources, while privacy and consent safeguards aim to prevent exploitation.

Origins are imagined as a response to demographic shifts, urban density, and evolving notions of family, with early experiments described in metropolitan hubs that function as governance and education centers. Supporters argue that the system increases resilience, social capital, and lifelong learning, while critics caution against loss of parental choice, potential coercion, and risks of diffusion of accountability.

See also: communal parenting, kin networks, child welfare design.