Who gets custody?

Abstract

Changes in the living arrangements of children have implications for social policy and children's well-being. Understanding who gets custody on divorce--mother, father, or both sharing custody--can also inform our understanding of family organization and the merits of alternative theories of marriage and divorce. We examine physical-custody outcomes among recent Wisconsin divorces in an effort to understand the factors associated with shared custody as well as mother-sole custody and father-sole custody. Although mother-sole custody remains the dominant arrangement, shared custody has increased over a nine-year period. We find that the probability of shared custody increases with parent's income. Prior marital history, parents' ages, the age and gender of children, and the legal process also have an impact on the probability of shared custody. In contrast to shared custody, the probability of father-sole custody decreases with parent's income, while the relationship with other significant factors is generally similar. The notable exception is that, unlike shared custody, we find no evidence for an increase over time in the probability of father-sole custody. We also find that when the father has a higher proportion of the couple's total income, both shared custody and father-sole custody are more likely.

Untraditional caring arrangements among parents living apart

“…The latter association is consistent with international studies indicating that fathers in couples spend more time with boys than with girls, and that untraditional caring arrangements following break-up are most likely for boys (Cancian and Meyer 1998). This finding may be more surprising in a country like Norway, with its strong expectations of gender equality and fathers' involvement with both girls and boys.…”

“…The researchers relate this to the fact that, unlike parents with sole custody, parents with shared residence are not entitled to transitional benefits and support for child-care and their own education. As for father sole custody, the association with the parents' income is more indefinite, with some studies reporting a negative association (Cancian and Meyer 1998) and some a positive association (Juby, Le Bourdais and Marcil-Gratton 2005) with household income.…”

“…Moreover, some of the studies referred to in the literature review are based on old data. This is particularly the case for the work of Cancian and Meyer (1998), which uses data from the period 1986-1992.…”

“…Some studies indicate that father sole custody is more common among previously married than previously cohabiting parents, and more common among parents who had been married for a long time than those who had been married for a shorter time (Cancian and Meyer 1998;Juby, Le Bourdais and Marcil-Gratton 2005). However, the relationship between shared residence and the parents' marriage is less clear, although some studies suggest that non-resident fathers who were formally married to the child's mother spend more time with them after break-up than those who were cohabiting (Cooksey and Craig 1998).…”

“…While most children still remain in the physical custody of their mothers when parents break up, several countries have recently witnessed a slight increase in shared residence for children (Smyth and Moloney 2008;Lundström 2009;Fehlberg et al 2011), which is often linked to more equal parenting roles when parents live together (Smyth, Qu and Weston 2004). There is now a growing literature on the determinants and dynamics of shared residence and also on father sole custody (for instance, Cancian and Meyer 1998;Juby, Le Bourdais and Marcil-Gratton 2005). The aim of the present paper is to add to this literature by discussing the characteristics of parents who choose shared residence or father sole custody in Norway, a country known for its high female labour force participation and extensive policies for symmetric parental roles, as well as its high proportion of children born into consensual unions.…”