Transcript Shared residence: A new social category of analysis?

British Society for Population Studies Annual Conference
University of Manchester, 10–12 September 2008
Shared Residence
A new social category of analysis?
Alexander Masardo
Department of Social & Policy Sciences
University of Bath
[email protected]
Shared Residence
•Non-resident parents are not an homogenous group.
•A form of family life in which children reside with
each parent for roughly equal amounts of time by
alternating their home life across two households.
•A 30–70 spectrum of residence in percentage terms
over the year (e.g. Baker & Townsend, 1996) provides
a useful framework within which to explore the
intersection of resident and non-resident parenting.
•Shared residence brings the nomenclature of a
resident–non-resident parent dichotomy into question.
The research
•Qualitative in-depth interviews with 20 British & 15
French fathers, accessed through snowball sampling.
•Similarities in respondent characteristics could
indicate a stronger propensity for shared residence to
take place where certain core criteria are met.
•Fathers described both structural and relational
aspects of managing shared residence.
•The need to distinguish shared residence/résidence
alternée as a category of analysis in its own right.
The policy framework
•At the heart of policy management: a resident–nonresident administrative division can set parents in
opposition to each other.
•Many forced into becoming proactive in seeking
imaginative ways of turning the system to their best
advantage.
•A ‘resident parent’ status can be dynamic.
•The affordability of shared residence.
•A ‘non-resident’ status can be a particular source of
hardship for low-income families.
The legal framework
•La loi du 4 mars 2002 reform of ‘parental authority’:
challenging a ‘default’ primary carer model.
•Differences in approach between Britain and France
are becoming increasingly less marginal.
•Policy measures aimed at underpinning the notion of
coparentalité (co-parenthood).
•Distinguishing shared residence as an explicit option
will necessitate a revision of the way such practices
are considered and measured.
Defining shared residence
• Levels of reported ‘shared care’ vary from
between 7-15 percent (e.g. Skinner et al., 2007).
• However, there remains little consensus or
understanding of what shared residence entails.
• Arrangements were varied and changed over time,
though actual levels of care were sustained.
• Cross-national differences were apparent in the
length of residence.
Examples of shared residence ‘cycles’
F = father; M = mother
British respondent: Chris (age 36) and Sue – Joel (age 7) and Sam (age 4).
M
M
M
F
F
F
M
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thurs
Fri
Sat
British respondent: Kyle (age 35) and Freya – Roly (age 8).
Week 1
F
M
Sun Mon
Week 2
F
F
M
M
F
M
F
Tue
Wed
Thur
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon
M
F
Tue Wed
M
F
M
Thur
Fri
Sat
French respondent: Jacques (age 44) and Mari-Lou – Julian (age 12) and Sophie (age 9).
Week 1
M
M
Sun Mon
M
M
Tue Wed
Week 2
M
F
F
F
F
Thur
Fri
Sat
Sun Mon
F
F
Tue Wed
F
M
M
Thur
Fri
Sat
Division of judicial decisions in France in October 2003 by mode of
shared residence and age of child
Pattern of care a
Alternate weeks
À la carte division of care b
according to detailed
parenting plan
Every two weeks
Undetermined pattern of care
Other
Total
in %
80
12
Age
0–4
76
16
Age
5–9
81
12
Age
10–14
79
8
Age
15 +
82
9
5
4
1
7
2
0
2
4
1
8
6
0
0
10
0
Source: Moreau et al. (2004), based on figures from Ministère de la Justice – DACS – Cellule Etudes et
Recherches – Enquête “Résidence des enfants” octobre 2003.
Notes: a All figures have been rounded up; b An à la carte pattern of care still involved equal divisions of
time in nearly 80 percent of cases.
Conclusion
• A new social category of analysis?
• There are dangers inherent in becoming overly
prescriptive in its definition.
• The relationship between public preferences and
judicial decision making.
• The need for flexibility.
• The development of shared residence as a
category of analysis will challenge a resident–
non-resident parent dichotomy.