Child care is a central issue especially as regards child abuse and neglect in Africa. Whether children are cared for within or outside the family or by institutions, these disruptions lead to the exploitation of children, maltreatment, abuse, neglect, or abandonment. This paper reviews the literature on this issue. Even though the sociology and anthropology of childhood provide qualitative insights into various patterns–both past and present–in child care, our understanding of this issue remains incomplete, the classification of situations is unsettled, and measurement tools for various phenomena are lacking, in terms of both prevalence and trends.