For years, men have become weary of fighting for the custody of their children because they assume that the courts always give mothers more priority. There is an assumption that children are still better off with their mothers. Although courts want to provide what is in the ‘best interest of the child,’ they are tied to this bias.
It is not always the determining factor. Research by the Pew Research center shows that the reason mothers win these cases is that they spend more time with their children.
On average, a woman will spend 12.9 hours on primary child care activities, and a man will spend only 6.5 hours. It, therefore, makes sense to the court to award custody to the parent who has a stronger bond with their child.
51% of custody decisions, agreed that the mother is the best custodial parent. According to the New York Times, after the divorce, only 22% of fathers make time to see their children at least once a week. Disturbingly, more than 27% of fathers have no contact with their children at all.
These statistics show why the majority of mothers retain custody. Men argue that family courts are sending the message that fathers are not essential in raising children, other than sending monthly paychecks. It is not the case since 91% of all custody cases get decided outside the family courts.
The gender bias claims come from fathers who do not take the time to fight for more time with their children. They give up too soon. It is not a valid claim unless one has personal experience with it.
