Sharing Responsibilities for Children After Separation: A European Perspective

Abstract

Policy frameworks in some countries encourage both parents to share responsibility for children after separation, but we know little about whether responsibility for major decision-making or day-to-day living arrangements (placement) are assigned to one parent or shared between them. In this paper we use recently-released data (European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions, EU-SILC) to document the extent to which children in 20 countries have responsibilities shared between the parents, assigned to only one, or a mixture. Using an index that combines decision-making and placement, we find substantial differences across countries, confirming research showing great variation in living arrangements and adding variation in decision-making. We explore potential reasons for different levels of shared responsibility across countries. Using simple bivariate statistics, we find higher levels of sharing when the legal context acknowledged sharing longer ago, and when there are higher levels of gender equality, educational attainment, and parental separation.