Are Part-Time Parents Healthier and Happier Parents? Correlates of Joint Physical Custody in Switzerland

• In Event: 4266 - Section on Aging and the Life Course Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: 9. Social Engagement and Living Arrangements

Abstract

Changing legal and parental practices across many European countries have initially led to a higher share of parents opting for joint physical custody (JPC), who tended to be more affluent and to have less conflict. Since JPC became more prevalent, the profiles of JPC parents pluralized. Far from these developments, no clearly defined legal pathways toward JPC existed in Switzerland before 2017. Looking at the Swiss case more closely, we use data from the 2013 Families and Generations Survey to examine the prevalence of JPC families, their characteristics, and associations with parental health and well-being before the 2017 legislative change. We identified three care arrangements among a subsample of 875 post-separation parents with 1,269 minors: sole custody (68%), visitations rights (21%), and JPC (11%). Being a woman, highly-educated, and having older children were strong predictors of JPC. However, JPC parents also reported to have more financial strain compared to parents with other care arrangements. No significant differences emerged for parents’ health and well-being across care arrangements. We conclude that lacking institutional support for JPC and gender-biased employment practices reinforce traditional sole custody models. Furthermore, because the high costs of child care in Switzerland and unequal time splits, JPC may represent more a resource drain than a relief for the parent shouldering the majority of care duties and expenses.

Authors

• Claudia Recksiedler, German Youth Institute

• Laura Bernardi, UNIL