Are children of divorced parents better off with their father or their mother?

Factual Questions
1

Have any studies been done as to whether children of divorce are better placed with the father or the mother?

Traditionally, it’s the mother that usually gets primary custody, but is this based on sexism or on science?

(Inspired by this thread.)

2

Is this a homework question?

3

It depends entirely on who the mother and father are. On balance, mothers are more often the primary caregivers, so giving primary custody to the children is often the least disruptive choice for the children.

4

Who’s the best parent?

If this is a question about gender strengths, i think thats for the birds maaaaan.

If not, then let’s stick with the simple answer:

The parents who shows the best mix of good parenting qualities, like caring, spending time with them, supporting them financially, etc…etc… etc…
Maybe they shoudl just do a psychological evaluation for parents fighting over the kids and see who the hell is the better choice. It would save both parents money, ensure the best choice is made, and maybe even save the kids if both parents are nutso

WOOOO!!!

5

I had to take a parenting class during our custody fight and the teacher said, if she had to choose, she’d prefer girls live with their dads. She cited a study that showed how important dads are to developing the girls self esteem, but of course I have no idea where to look for it.

In reality, having both parents active in the kids life is the ideal. I dont think it particularily matters where the kid sleeps more.

And yes, there is a lot of sexism in this subject, or was. The courts are supposed to be fair these days, and I felt they mostly were, but there are certain areas where the law favors mom.

6

In our culture, yes, that is the tradition but it’s by no means universal. In Ancient Greece and Rome, for example, fathers got custody as a matter of course. I believe some of today’s Muslim cultures also default to fathers for custody in divorce cases.

Favoring one gender of parent over the other is based on sexism but there are frequently economic and social bias at work as well (in some cultures a divorced woman is hard put to support herself, much less children as well.)

7

That’s the sort of thing I seek.