Researcher Examines How Inequality in the Court System Impacts Corporations
New research is being conducted that will uncover the impact that inequality in the United States Family Court System and child custody laws have on corporations. As a shared parenting advocacy nonprofit, the National Parents Organization (NPO) supports this research effort and ongoing studies to shed light on these issues that are plaguing families, communities, and corporations nationwide.
“Inequality in the family court system is a bigger issue that people realize. This is truly a human rights issue,” said Casey Sowers, the lead researcher for this study.
Sowers is the Executive Director of The Fathers’ Rights Movement and also a doctoral candidate at Florida International University’s Chapman Graduate School of Business. NPO spoke with him to learn more about his research.
“We’ve talked a lot over the years about children’s rights, parental alienation, and inequalities in our federal and state laws. But the people who are really benefiting from this are those who profit in divorce and custody. It’s in their interest to keep it the way it is because they’re making money off of it, regardless of who complains,” explained Sowers. “The only way we’re going to be able to come together and get enough leverage to start making change and influencing these people who don’t want it to change is to show the overall impact and indirect impact that nobody really recognizes.”
Employee Productivity Suffers During Custody Disputes
Sowers’ pilot study presents statistics that speak to those impacts. He collected responses from more than 6,700 mothers and fathers in all 50 states who have experienced child custody matters. The respondents shared information about their experiences and how the process impacted their day-to-day productivity at work as well as their work-life balance, mental health, and interpersonal relationships. Sowers’ research proves that the United States Family Court System and its custody dispute process is adversely impacting more than just families and their communities – it’s also negatively affecting corporations.
“Through a rough estimation, there are 13.2 million custodial parents in United States. We can double that number to additionally account for 13.2 noncustodial parents. This brings us to an estimate of 26.4 million parents who are affected by custody matters,” said Sowers. “My research has found that 26.4 million people represents nearly 13.2% of the United States labor force.”
Sowers’ research observes the impact of job performance and productivity in the workplace and how it’s affecting corporations. When a parent experiences a custody dispute, this data proves that they’re distracted from their day-to-day responsibilities. Sowers’ shared with us the following statistics from his study:
34% of respondents reported that their quality of work was below average more than half the time while going through the custody dispute
36% of respondents reported that the quantity of work completed was below average more than half the time while going through the custody dispute
55% had trouble planning and completing work in a timely manner more than half the time while going through the custody dispute
Data Correlation with NPO Shared Parenting Research
Sowers collected the data in a way that allows him to divide it up by gender, location, and outcome. He also compared these data sets with previous NPO Shared Parenting Report Cards.
“National Parents Organization leads the way in data and research in the world of shared parenting. This is instrumental in part of our process of sharing this information because without their research, our efforts are really just pointing fingers and making baseless accusations,” said Sowers.
While analyzing his data, he looked at respondents from different states and compared their responses and outcomes based on their state’s NPO Report Card grade. These grades determine the degree to which state legislatures have absorbed and acted on the scientific consensus on the benefits of shared parenting. Specifically, he chose to compare Arizona and New York because these states, for a very long time, have had different laws and outcomes in terms of shared parenting. In addition, he had over 100 responses from each of these states.
“There was less of a negative impact in Arizona than there was in New York. Both males and females reported significantly better in Arizona than in New York,” said Sowers. “This directly associates with their state grades in the 2019 NPO Shared Parenting Report Card.”
Creating Change in the Divorce Industry
For family law professionals and co-parenting advocates, like Ashley-Nicole Russell, Esq., this research will help change the way that divorce cases are handled in the United States. Russell, an author and attorney in North Carolina and national board member for NPO, had an exclusive interview with Sowers prior to the release of his research. She was one of the first legal professionals to dive into the numbers and see how they correlate directly with the divorce industry and corporations across America.
“I first published the historical data around the evolution of divorce’s impact on families in America and the concept that corporations and business are directly affected in my book, The Cure for Divorce Culture, calling for a study to prove the hypothesis. This study shows what my Collaborative Law colleagues and those associated with the system have known to be true,” shared Russell. “In speaking at human resources events to spread awareness of this issue and help businesses become the saving grace of the negative effects of divorce litigation on its employees, parents, and children, these businesses have been very interested in the topic due to the costs and time away from work the employees are experiencing.”
Russell, who also serves on the Board of Directors of National Parents Organization, owns AN|R Law: A Negotiated Resolution with four locations across North Carolina in Raleigh, Greenville, Beaufort, and Wilmington. As a collaborative family law attorney, she focuses on settling divorce and custody matters out-of-court through alternative dispute resolution proceedings. These processes are known as healthier ways to divorce since parents and their children are not subjected to lengthy courtroom battles. She wrote about the direct connection between this study and litigated courtroom divorces on her blog, which you can access by clicking here.
Direct Impact on Corporations and Revenue Loss
Through this groundbreaking research and thousands of responses from parents across the United States, Sowers is able to prove his theory. This data collection supports what he’s known on a personal level as a single father of two daughters.
“In looking at my own personal experience, I know that at least a quarter of my time at work was spent thinking about my custody dispute. That included speaking to my attorney in the hallway, organizing records, researching laws, trying to strategize. Even while I was at work, I wasn’t focused on work,” admitted Sowers. “This pilot study establishes that there is a connection and the overall goal is to quantify it into dollars.”
Based on his early calculations of productivity ratings compared to average salary amounts, Sowers can make a rough estimate for the revenue loss of corporations. He calculates that if 36% of the workforce report that they produced less than average during their custody dispute, that could potentially transfer to over $500 billion lost by corporations annually. More research is needed to properly quantify this, but these numbers are already staggering. For example, if we apply this calculation to a corporation with 10,000 employees, the company is potentially having productivity losses worth $25 million a year.
Working Together to Advocate for Legislation
“My goal with The Fathers’ Rights Movement is to partner with other organizations, such as National Parents Organization, and use these numbers to show companies how they are being negatively impacted by the U.S. Court System,” said Sowers. “This is really all connected. Our missions are different, but our goals are similar and it’s our joint responsibility to work together and support each other.”
He wants to start working with these companies and their lobbyists to encourage lawmakers to vote in favor of equal shared parenting. There hasn’t been data gathered on this before, and approaching lawmakers with these facts and statistics about the workforce’s productivity could make a huge impact as part of their election campaigns and political platforms.
“We can use this research to attract corporate donations as well,” explained Sowers. “Not only will these companies get a tax write-off and do social good, but they’re also helping their own bottom line in the long-term.”
This pilot research measuring the United States Family Court System was completed and submitted to the Institutional Review Board of Florida International University. Sowers will use the data to help formulate additional questions and research topics for future studies that will be built in the coming years. One of those studies will examine the quantifying concepts of productivity loss and its connection to revenue loss in corporations. In addition, Sowers is working on the development of an international study that will measure the data from the United States against other countries.
“This information is going to prove that this is a global issue,” said Sowers. “We’re going to do more studies that look at how different countries perform in terms of job productivity as a result of custody disputes and court cases.”
How You Can Help by Serving as an Advocate
As a shared parenting support and advocacy organization, NPO is aware of thousands of instances where there has been incredible inequality during family law cases dealing with custody and alienation. With the information from Sowers’ pilot study, we can see that while these parents were impacted during the custody battle, the companies they work for and the communities they live in were also impacted.
We are committed to assisting in this research and bringing it to light so we can use it as a way to strengthen our legislative work. Armed with this research and data, we can work together to advance legislation and policy changes nationwide.
In order for NPO to target key state legislators to move important legislation, we need to be able to identify each legislator’s constituents. Learn more about volunteer and advocacy opportunities in your state by clicking here.
We invite you to visit NPO’s website learn more about how you can help by donating, fundraising, volunteering, and advocating.
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The overarching goal of National Parents Organization (NPO) is to promote shared parenting by educating parents, divorce professionals, and legislators and by reforming family courts and laws in every state. NPO focuses on advocacy and research leading to systemic reform of the family courts. The organization does not provide legal aid or advice on individual cases.