Equal Shared Parenting: the Science Supports It; the Public Want It

Feb 4

February 4, 2021 by Don Hubin, Ph.D., Chair, National Board of Directors

It’s not unusual. Once again, the public is way ahead of our legislators, who are too often held back by the demands of special interests to which they are beholden.

Regular readers of the NPO Blog know that there is a strong scientific consensus that substantially equal shared parenting is, in the vast majority of cases, in children’s best interest. And, regular readers will recall, too, that NPO has done polling in a number of states that shows, beyond doubt, that the public overwhelmingly favors a legal presumption in favor of shared parenting.

In the past three months, NPO has expanded its polling of American’s attitudes toward shared parenting significantly, commissioning a series of independently-conducted polls in seven states: Arkansas, California, Florida, Idaho, Minnesota, Utah, and Wisconsin. When viewed in the context of previous NPO polls conducted by Researchscape International and Public Policy Polling—polls in Kansas (2019), Texas (2019), Virginia (2019), Kentucky (2018), Missouri (2018), Ohio (2018), Michigan (2017), and Maryland (2016)—the results are clear. There is overwhelming support for shared parenting!

In the seven states that were surveyed most recently—between November, 2020, and January, 2021—here is what we found:

Between 93% and 99% of respondents agreed that “it is in a child’s best interest to have as much time as possible with each parent” when the parents are divorced or separated.
Between 91% and 96% of respondents would “be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports children spending significant, up to equal, amounts of time with each parent following separation or divorce.”
Between 83% and 88% would support “a change in state law that creates a rebuttable presumption that shared parenting is in the best interest of a child after parental separation.”
Between 72% and 85% believe that “when there is conflict between parents, awarding sole custody of children to just one parent increases that conflict.”
Between 83% and 93% believe that “both parents have equal rights and responsibilities following divorce or separation.”

See the key survey results on this interactive map.

If your state is among those surveyed, contact your state legislators and demand that they enact strong shared parenting legislation (unless you’re fortunate enough to live in Kentucky, where NPO led a successful effort to create the nation’s strongest shared parenting law, or Arizona which also has strong shared parenting legislation).

If your state hasn’t been polled, use that same map to go to a page to contribute to funding a poll in your state. There is nothing more effective in moving legislators than pointing out the near unanimity of public opinion and, as well, the fact that voters are overwhelmingly more likely to vote for a candidate that supports shared parenting legislation.

Both the science and public opinion are ahead of our legislators on this important issue. But we can change that. We must push our legislators harder than they’re being pushed by the special interests that oppose promoting children’s interests by creating a legal presumption in favor of equally shared parenting.