Separated fathers: how often do they see their children?

We've all heard statistics knowingly thrown out about how many separated or divorced dads see their children. What's the truth? Adrienne Burgess of the Fatherhood Institute gives us the headline stats we do know.

• 9 out of 10 “lone parents” are female
• 1 out of 10 separated couples share the care of their children equally
• 1 in 3 children sees their non-resident dad at least weekly
• 1 in 2 sees him at least monthly
• 1 in 4 children rarely, or never, sees their non-resident fathers
• 1 in 4 non-resident dads say their child’s mother has made contact difficult
• 1 in 4 mothers whose child has contact with their dad, say his lack of commitment, unreliability or inflexibility has got in the way
• less contact is likely when fathers are:
  • poor
  • not well educated
  • have never (or only briefly) lived with their child
  • don’t get on well with their child’s mother
  • re-partnered or have more children
• more contact is likely when:
  • fathers pay child support
  • began seeing their children regularly right after the breakup
  • have written agreements about contact with their child’s mother
  • feel they have influence over their children
  • competent as a father
  • feel satisfied with parenting

Author

Adrienne Burgess, Research Manager at the Fatherhood Institute, is author of the groundbreaking book Fatherhood Reclaimed (Vermilion, 1997). Adrienne writes, speaks and trains on fatherhood in the UK, the US and Australia, pulls together the research evidence on fatherhood and interviews many fathers about their experiences – the best part of her job!

Your thoughts

What you expected? Surprised? Do the figures reflect your experiences? Comment below.