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Who Gets Custody Now? Dramatic Changes in Children’s Living Arrangements After Divorce

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  • Maria Cancian
  • Daniel Meyer
  • Patricia Brown
  • Steven Cook

Abstract

This article reexamines the living arrangements of children following their parents’ divorce, using Wisconsin Court Records, updating an analysis that showed relatively small but significant increases in shared custody in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These changes have accelerated markedly in the intervening years: between 1988 and 2008, the proportion of mothers granted sole physical custody fell substantially, the proportion of parents sharing custody increased dramatically, and father–sole custody remained relatively stable. We explore changes in the correlates of alternative custody outcomes, showing that some results from the earlier analysis still hold (for example, cases with higher total family income are more likely to have shared custody), but other differences have lessened (shared-custody cases have become less distinctive as they have become more common). Despite the considerable changes in marriage and divorce patterns over this period, we do not find strong evidence that the changes in custody are related to changes in the characteristics of families experiencing a divorce; rather, changes in custody may be the result of changes in social norms and the process by which custody is determined. Copyright The Author(s) 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Cancian & Daniel Meyer & Patricia Brown & Steven Cook, 2014. "Who Gets Custody Now? Dramatic Changes in Children’s Living Arrangements After Divorce," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(4), pages 1381-1396, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:51:y:2014:i:4:p:1381-1396
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-014-0307-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1.
    2. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2007. "Changes in the Labor Supply Behavior of Married Women: 1980–2000," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 25(3), pages 393-438.
    3. Maria Cancian & Daniel Meyer, 1998. "Who gets custody?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 35(2), pages 147-157, May.
    4. Weiss, Yoram & Willis, Robert J, 1985. "Children as Collective Goods and Divorce Settlements," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(3), pages 268-292, July.
    5. Laurent Toulemon & Sophie Pennec, 2010. "Multi-residence in France and Australia," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 23(1), pages 1-40.
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