In 80 percent of divorce cases that involve children, women receive sole custody. This may present a problem for California mothers who want to get back into the workforce after their marriages end. While getting custody of children may represent a victory in the beginning, it may actually make women dependent on child support payments. One solution is to make shared parenting more common in the United States.
First, shared parenting allows children to spend equal amounts of time with both their mothers and fathers. In doing so, parents are treated equally under the system as opposed to potentially favoring the mother. This provides working mothers a great opportunity to enter the workforce or otherwise pursue their career goals. For fathers, the main benefit to shared parenting is the ability to see their children more than once every other weekend.
While shared parenting may be a new idea in the United States, it has existed in other countries for several years. In fact, research that supported the idea was presented at the 2017 International Conference on Shared Parenting. States such as Kentucky and Missouri have passed legislation recently that moved toward a shared parenting model, and up to 25 other states are considering it as well.
Parents who are engaged in child custody disputes may wish to obtain legal counsel. Doing so may make it possible for an individual to learn more about his or her rights as they relates to maintaining a relationship with a child. In some cases, both parents will be given equal or equitable custody rights. If custody is not granted, a parent may still be given the ability to visit with or make contact with a child.