"Your children need your presence more than your presents"
Jesse Jackson
What is Equal Shared Co-Parenting?
Equal shared co-parenting — also called 50/50 custody — is a co-parenting arrangement in which parents have equal time with their child and make all major parenting decisions together.
A few facts about ESP
Why Equal Shared Co-Parenting?
Equal Shared Co-Parenting is in the Best Interests of the Child - We have four decades of social science research that informs us that children do much better with both parents actively involved in their upbringing. Conversely, children raised without both parents generally underachieve, are prone to more medical and social problems, and have significantly higher rates of incarceration and teenage pregnancies.
110 eminent researchers publicly endorsed this scientific conclusion in 2014. Moreover, in a 2018 special edition of the prestigious Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, a panel of social science experts went further by stating the scientific body of research was sufficiently powerful to now justify a rebuttable presumption of equal shared parenting.
And a 2023 systematic review of 39 studies found overwhelming emotional, behavioral, relational, physical and educational benefits to ESP over sole custody and concluded that "maintaining connection with both parents outweighs any potential drawbacks of moving between households and supports many countries’ policies around preference for [ESP over sole custody]."
Equal Shared Co-Parenting adoption varies wildly between countries. As of 2021, in Europe, between 0.6% and 53.7% of children were in "Joint Parental Custody" (JPC), meaning that they spend between 33% and 66% of their time with each parent. In Scandinavian countries, which enacted Equal Shared Parenting decades ago, JPC is most widespread, with 53.7% of JPC in Sweden, 39.9% in Denmark and 31.8% in Finland.
Use the buttons below to read more details about the outcomes of children raised by single parents and on the myths & truths about Equal Shared Parenting.
Despite these benefits, ESP is far from being the norm in Family Court decisions.
The current Canadian divorce laws do not work in the best interests of the children
Despite all the benefits of equal shared co-parenting, the current system to determine parenting schedules does not prioritize this parenting arrangement. Instead, it is highly adversarial. This not only increases the legal cost for parents (family resources that would be better used for raising children), but leaves only 20-30% of separation children in an equal shared co-parenting arrangement,
In other words, the current system is unsuccessful in upholding the best interests of the children by allowing maximum contact with both parents in the vast majority of cases where it is warranted.
The good news? There is a simple fix that would radically improve the system. It is called the rebuttable presumption of equal shared parenting.
