Nicolás Soler, Tom Emery, Agnieszka Kanas Sociological Science June 2, 2026 10.15195/v13.a23 Abstract How first-time parents arrange childcare has critical implications for their careers and the child’s development. Previous research shows that childcare choices are shaped by family care availability, understood as an additive function of a small set of parental and grandparental characteristics. However, research on family networks suggests that care availability is rather a non-linear, non-add