NPO: 6 Reasons Single Moms Should Embrace Equal Child Custody

Article here. Excerpt:

'A rival statistic to the nation’s divorce rate shakes up the conversation on societal expectations that mom shoulder sole responsibility for child rearing while dad serves as breadwinner. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than 40 percent of children born in the United States are born to unmarried parents.

This means that outside of divorce, a significant portion of our nation’s children enter child custody courts by default, which is where the problem becomes worse for today’s modern families. Contrary to common belief, when child custody cases turn ugly, judges rarely equally divide parenting. The old-fashioned model from the ‘50s where mom receives custody and dad gets “visitation” reigns more than 90 percent of the time.

These statistics remind me that our moms need not feel forced into the role of June Cleaver any more than dad should accept his role as Ward. Despite our family courts insistence of being a last hideout to gender inequality, our society has changed and moreover research shows that shared parenting — often defined as equal joint and physical custody — is best for children and also benefits mothers in many ways, including:

Moms get paid. Numerous studies show that child support compliance rates are significantly higher in instances of shared parenting compared to sole custody arrangements. ...

Moms succeed professionally. When moms and dads share parenting time, moms have equal time to pursue their careers. ...'