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Involved Fathers, Liberated Mothers? Joint Physical Custody and the Subjective Well-being of Divorced Parents

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  • An Sodermans
  • Sarah Botterman
  • Nele Havermans
  • Koen Matthijs

Abstract

More and more parents are sharing the care of their children after divorce. While the effects of joint physical custody on child outcomes have been studied abundantly, the consequences for parent’s well-being received less attention. This study investigates how the subjective well-being of divorce parents is affected by their custody status and hereby explores two mediating mechanisms: the parental involvement and the availability of leisure time. Data from the Divorce in Flanders survey (N = 1,506) is used to explore this question. There is no direct effect of custody on parents’ subjective well-being. We do find small indirect effects of custody on parents’ subjective wellbeing, which are gender specific. For divorced mothers, more parenting time is positively associated with subjective well-being through more openness in the mother–child communication. For divorced fathers, more parenting time is negatively associated with subjective well-being through more problems in the communication with their children. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • An Sodermans & Sarah Botterman & Nele Havermans & Koen Matthijs, 2015. "Involved Fathers, Liberated Mothers? Joint Physical Custody and the Subjective Well-being of Divorced Parents," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 122(1), pages 257-277, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:122:y:2015:i:1:p:257-277
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-014-0676-9
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    1. Fernández-Kranz, Daniel & Roff, Jennifer Louise & Sun, Hugette, 2018. "Can Reduced Child Support Make Joint Custody Bad for Children? The Role of Economic Incentives in U.S. Divorce Law on Child Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 12025, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Carole Bonnet & Bertrand Garbinti & Anne Solaz, 2022. "Does Part-Time Mothering Help Get a Job? The Role of Shared Custody in Women’s Employment," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(5), pages 885-913, December.
    3. Lara Augustijn, 2023. "Mothers’ Economic Well-Being in Sole and Joint Physical Custody Families," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 53-64, March.
    4. Lara Augustijn, 2023. "Post-separation Care Arrangements and Parents’ Life Satisfaction: Can the Quality of Co-parenting and Frequency of Interparental Conflict Explain the Relationship?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1319-1338, April.

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