SHARED RESIDENCE NOT A 'MAGIC SOLUTION'

CAVA Press Release
17th October 2003

Children who split their time equally between their parents' houses after divorce or separation may find this arrangement increasingly difficult as they get older, according to new research from the University of Leeds.

These findings from the ESRC Enduring Families project come as Fathers 4 Justice - the group calling for mandatory shared residency - descend upon Trafalgar Square to kick-off their 'uprising' campaign, and just as the Australian Government consider implementing automatic 50/50 residence on divorce.

In their forthcoming article, the research team reveal that shared residence caused unhappiness for some children. Difficulties emerge if arrangements are too rigid and if parents are inattentive to the problems their children face in living their lives across two homes. Some children reported feeling trapped. Others felt unsettled in one of their homes. Some of the teenagers interviewed said they were looking forward to leaving home so they could stop packing their bags every week.

Dr Bren Neale, Director of the Project, said: "The idea that shared residence is the best measure for all children is challenged by our research. Children had a wide-range of experiences.

"Some relished the feeling of being loved by both parents and understood shared residence as a demonstration of this, but others felt this was a terrible burden because they became responsible for the emotional well being of both their parents. Some thought the arrangement was excellent because it was fair for their parents, yet others thought it was dreadfully unfair on them".

Dr. Jennifer Flowerdew explained that for the children, the key to good shared residence was flexibility, supportive and co-operative parenting, and a sense of belonging in both parent's houses. "It is very important that children feel that both houses are 'home' and they can enjoy good and supportive relationships with both parents", she said.

The researchers are concerned that children's experiences should be heard before shared living arrangements become the norm in England and Wales.

ENDS

For further information contact:
Bren Neale on 0113 343 4813 or by email b.neale@leeds.ac.uk

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. Neale, B, Flowerdew, J. and Smart, C. (forthcoming, 2003), 'Drifting Towards Shared Residence?', Family Law, December, Volume 33.

2. These findings are taken from the Enduring Families project, a qualitative longitudinal study funded by the ESRC and housed in the Centre for Research on Family, Kinship and Childhood, a sister centre of CAVA. This is a follow up to two previous studies which explored the family lives of 117 children and young people (aged 5-20) after their parents' divorce or separation. For this project, 60 of these young people were re-interviewed after a three to four year period, 30 of whom had lived in shared residence arrangements. For more general information on this project visit:
www.leeds.ac.uk/family/research/Enduringfam.htm

3. The ESRC Research Group for the Study of Care, Values and the Future of Welfare (CAVA) has undertaken a wide-ranging research programme into changes around parenting and partnering. For more information about CAVA's research activities, contact Steve Mosby .

4. The ESRC is the UK's largest funding agency for research and postgraduate training relating to social and economic issues. It provides independent, high-quality, relevant research to business, the public sector and Government. The ESRC invests more than £76 million every year in social science and at any time is supporting some 2,000 researchers in academic institutions and research policy institutes. It also funds postgraduate training within the social sciences to nurture the researchers of tomorrow. For more information, visit the website: www.esrc.ac.uk