This brief outlines the major findings of a research project into livelihoods and parental planning in Southern Africa. The aim of the study was to find out how parents and other caregivers are planning and acting to secure their children’s future. The intention was to paint a broad picture of people’s livelihoods to understand their perspectives and experiences, what is affecting their families and welfare, which interventions they are benefiting from, and how they are responding. The results of qualitative household research in rural Chikwawa District in Malawi, as well as peri-urban Amajube District and urban Durban in South Africa, indicate that vulnerable people are aware of the threats to their welfare and that they have limited options to sustain their families and livelihoods, let alone provide their children with the means to achieve a stable existence.