A child-headed family or child-headed household is a family in which a minor (child or adolescent) has become the head of the household. They are most common in developing countries and areas of war, where the children's parents have been killed by conflict or disease. In some cases, relatives of the children adopt them after the parents die. Situations where a child, usually the eldest, has to provide for the family happen when there are no adult relatives to take the children or the relatives can not afford to support more children. Whether and how much the government helps the orphaned family depends on the country. Most help comes from charity and aid organisations like UNICEF.