Grandparents, young cousins, older siblings, family friends, aunts and uncles, and extended family beyond. Simply being around frequently, and also easily available when needed. Very little of this has to do with female labour force participation.
In theory very little of it has to be about women specifically, but practice is different. (The expectations that used to exist for ~teenage girls to babysit for free for their relatives are somewhat undersold relative to adult labor, maybe)
I fully agree! It is in keeping with that sense that it is important that I object to a system where society expects non-parents to do it for free within a mesh of social obligation, and where that burden falls disproportionately on one gender.
My great-great-grandmother was made to drop out of school to take care of her nephew after the child's mother died. This, too, is what a "village" looks like – stunting a girl's future for the needs of someone else's child.
It wasn't just that. Speaking from both personal experience and from second-hand experience I got from my parents and grandparents, there was a very obvious shift that went beyond that.
My mother when she was younger used to live surrounded by extended family and they were always at each other's houses doing things together (I mean the adults, not just the kids, they'd help each other out).
I still grew up with extended family around, my grandparents, parents and uncle all lived right next to each other. I also had cousins nearby but already the shift had started, people were living more isolated.
But everyone still knew everyone and it was pretty safe to just let kids roam around.