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.
"Your children need your presence more than your presents"
Jesse Jackson
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.
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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]."
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Children’s Interests are best served when they have the support and guidance from both parents and a continued relationship with both sides of their extended families such as grandparents. An overwhelming amount of scientific evidence suggests that children fare better under ESP under pretty much any metric. Children who do not maintain meaningful relationship with both parents are at a higher risk of failure:
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They are 4 times more likely to attempt suicide
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85-90% of incarcerated youth and adults come from the single-family homes
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~90% of runaways and homeless come from single family homes
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Use drugs at a much higher rate
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They have double the chance of dropping out of high school
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Much higher risk of teenage pregnancy
ESP is good for everyone
Equal Shared Co-Parenting (ESP) not only benefits children, but also parents. This includes custodial parents (typically mothers) who until now have had a higher burden of childcare awarded by the Courts at the expense of their careers and well being.
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A 2020 study also found that joint custody, which is closely related to ESP, led to a reduction in domestic violence over sole custody.
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,
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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.
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The good news? There is a simple fix that would radically improve the system. It is called the rebuttable presumption of equal shared parenting.
