A new study conducted by Emma Johnson from Wealthy Single Mommy found that shared custody agreements help to level the playing field when it comes to equal parenting time. The study polled 2,270 single mothers to ask about their employment, income, and time-sharing regarding parenting responsibilities.

The results showed that women who have 50/50 custody arrangements with their former spouse are 54% more likely to earn over $100,000 a year. However, only 13% of the women surveyed report having an equal custody arrangement.   

The documentary Erasing Family exposes that while children wish for more time with both parents, state legislatures are not passing legislation to make joint custody the default due to lobbying from special interest groups and state bar associations.

 Ginger Gentile, the Director of Erasing Family argues that shared custody agreements help children and parents maintain a sense of stability following divorce, “Shared custody is an important step for helping to reunite families following divorce. Shared custody arrangements allow children to maintain their connection with both parents and gives parents the opportunity to not bear the financial and emotional burden of parenting with no support. When children have both parents in their lives, they do better. Studies and polls show this, but it is a shame that politicians are not passing legislation to support default shared parenting.” 

This study is a huge step in the right direction for showing that equal custody arrangements are beneficial for parents as well as children.

More than half of the survey respondents reported having their children for 100% of the time, this means that they have little to no help juggling work, full-time parenting responsibilities, and household chores.

Although there are numerous benefits to shared custody agreements, only Arizona and Kentucky have introduced legislation that requires, “maximum time with each parent.” Many other states are currently considering enacting this legislation including Texas, Georgia, South Dakota, and Iowa.

The National Parenting Organization also released data showing that over 90% of respondents support shared parenting. Erasing Family is currently available to watch on Tubi, Amazon, Vimeo, iTunes, and YouTube.