Study: 50/50 Custody Increases Gender Equality

Sweden has one of the highest divorce rates in the world. It also is the world leader in splitting custody time between the parents in half. The impact of this policy has been to reduce the number of single mothers who are solely or mostly responsible for raising their children. Almost half of children with separated parents split their time equally between the two households in Sweden.

In a recent study published in the journal of Social Forces, the researchers wanted to determine to what extent 50/50 custody sharing has changed the gender division of care work within the ex-couple. The researchers hypothesized that the effect of 50/50 timesharing may lead to more gender equality than instances where children only live with their mothers.

A 50/50 timesharing schedule would require fathers to take full care responsibility for the children half of the time. This is something that partnered fathers do by default. So, it could push fathers into a more egalitarian division of childcare labor.

The study

As a measure of care work, the researchers examined one of the most persistent inequalities between women and men in high-income countries today: They have to take leave from work to provide care for a child. The researchers used administrative register data covering the entire population of Sweden measuring leave-taking of each child’s mother and father both before and after the divorce.

The researchers’ results showed that, in Sweden, divorce has led to an increase in fathers’ share of days off for childcare. The researchers concluded that whereas divorces have for decades been slowing the gender revolution in Sweden, they are now accelerating it.

The researchers caution that they are not trying to say divorce is a good thing. Instead, they believe that divorces help expose the joint household as a highly gendered environment. Opposite-sex couples in Sweden, and across the world, tend to fall into a manager-helper dynamic, in which the mother takes on the full administrative and emotional workload and only delegates specific tasks for the father to fulfill. This dynamic appears universal and impossible to break.

But 50/50 living arrangements completely flip the script. It becomes no longer possible to take on these heavily gendered roles when a child is splitting their time between two households. The mother cannot micromanage the father’s household. The father cannot wait for instructions from his former spouse.

According to the researchers, the lesson is that men can and do look after children on their own. If Swedish men can do it, then the rest of the world can do it too—if they can overcome their cultural programming.

Talk to a Philadelphia Child Custody Attorney Today 

The Law Offices of Lauren H. Kane represent the interests of divorcing Philadelphia residents who are looking for experienced representation during their divorce proceedings. Call our Philadelphia family lawyers today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin advising you on key areas of your divorce right away.

Source:

theconversation.com/how-divorce-is-boosting-gender-equality-in-sweden-new-study-233474