The SES-gradient in Shared Custody in 30 European Countries

Matthijs Kalmijn, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Research Institute NIDI/University of Groningen
Anne M. D. Brons , Utrecht University
Anne-Rigt Poortman, Utrecht University

Children of divorced parents increasingly live in two households after divorce, with parents sharing responsibility for their upbringing and wellbeing. Shared physical custody is a relatively new phenomenon in many countries. Past studies often focus on the consequences of this arrangement for children, largely suggesting positive effects on child outcomes. The current study examines the selectivity of shared custody, focusing on parents’ socioeconomic status. There are several reasons to expect that shared custody is more common in higher-SES families than in lower-SES families. Moreover, it has been argued that higher-SES families were the first to adopt to this new arrangement. We analyze data from the HBSC which were collected in secondary schools in 30 European countries in the 2000s, the early expansion period. Children are selected whose parents were alive and not living together (N = 38,369). Using multilevel regression models, we examine the effect of parents’ SES on the choice between shared and sole physical custody. Using meta-regression models, we subsequently explore if the SES-gradient is linked to the prevalence of shared custody. We find that in many countries, higher-SES families are choosing shared custody more frequently than lower-SES families. Moreover, when the prevalence of shared custody is higher in a society, the SES-gradient is stronger, in line with notions of stratified diffusion. Given previous findings suggesting positive effects of shared custody on child outcomes, our work on the SES-gradient points to another source of inequality emerging from the divorce revolution.

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 Presented in Session 37. Union Dissolution and Children