Mediate Michigan

We hear a lot about how the courts are biased in favor of mothers when deciding child custody. After a 10 year career as a divorce coach/consultant and doing extensive research on the subject, I’ve come to the conclusion that the courts are not the reason mothers retain custody in the majority of divorces. And, not the reason many fathers aren’t involved in their children’s lives post-divorce.

Below are a few stats from a Pew Research Center analysis of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) released in June of 2011.

Married Fathers:

According to the report, a married father spends on average 6.5 hours a week taking part in primary child care activities with his children. The married mother spends on average 12.9 hours. Since two-income households are now the norm, not the exception, the above information indicates that not only are mothers working, but they are also doing twice as much child care as fathers.

via Cathy Meyer: Dispelling The Myth Of Gender Bias In The Family Court System.