Parenting rarely happens in isolation. Parenting rarely happens in isolation. It happens within a web of relationships and systems. Every parent is influenced by a myriad of things - family, friends, work, culture, society, to name a few. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model helps us see these as interconnected layers that influence how parents experience and respond to raising a child. Each layer, from the most intimate to the most societal, interacts with the others, shaping both the parent’s and the child’s development. This approach is especially helpful for professionals and practitioners, because it highlights the full picture of what shapes a parent’s life, rather than a blinkered approach that may not be as effective or sustainable over time.

The Microsystem: Your Immediate World

This is your closest circle, the people you interact with directly on a daily basis: your child, your partner, your family, and even your close friends. For example, you might share morning routines with your partner, help your child wind down at bedtime, or talk with a close friend to recharge. The quality of these relationships shapes your confidence, patience, and energy as a parent.

The Mesosystem: How Your Circles Connect

This layer reflects how the different parts of your immediate world connect and influence each other. For example, how your child’s teacher communicates with you, how your parents’ views shape your relationship with your child, or how workplace schedules affect your ability to attend school meetings. Supportive links, like a school that collaborates with families or grandparents who align with your approach, make parenting smoother, while mismatched expectations across settings can add strain.

The Exosystem: Things That Affect You Indirectly

These are systems that influence your parenting, even though you’re not directly involved in them. For example, your organisation’s parental leave policies, your neighbourhood’s access to safe parks, or local childcare options. Media narratives about “good parenting” or societal commentary on screen time can also shape how you feel about your choices. You don’t control these systems, but they influence the priorities, time, energy, and resources you have for your child.

The Macrosystem: Culture and Society

This is the bigger context you live in: societal and cultural norms. In India, there can be pressure to excel academically, maintain traditional family roles, or juggle modern urban life while respecting cultural expectations. These pressures influence what you value in parenting, what you worry about, and the lessons you pass on to your child. For instance, you might feel torn between encouraging play and preparing your child for competitive schooling.

The Chronosystem: Change Over Time

This layer reflects how parenting and its surrounding systems change over time, both within your life and across generations. Shifts such as moving cities, career changes, or a second child alter your daily systems. Broader changes like digital technology, evolving gender roles, or modern educational pressures can also reshape how the different layers connect and influence your parenting values and decisions.

Why This Matters

Seeing parenting this way shows that your experience isn’t just about the choices you make, it’s about the environment around you. This perspective helps reveal hidden pressures and identify where change or support is most effective, whether through workplace flexibility, school partnerships, or community networks.

At Peas and a Pod, we use this layered approach to guide the support we offer families. We consider not just individual advice, but the whole environment affecting parents and children. Our programs strengthen family relationships, help navigate cultural and community expectations, and provide strategies that actually work in real urban life. By looking at the bigger picture, we support parents in a balanced, holistic way while nurturing confident, happy children.