Simple Divorce Papers

A University of Alberta sociology professor recently published a study based on Statistics Canada figures involving the parenting practices of divorced parents. The practices of the parent who had primary care of the children were the focus of the study – 95% of the time this was the mother. The idea was to find out whether mom’s parenting declined when faced with the stress and responsibility of shouldering the primary parental burden on her own.

According to the study these divorced parents performed the same as parents who were not divorced.

One explanation for this result is that parents who divorce become keenly aware of the need to ensure that their children do not suffer as a result of the divorce. So, as they become more aware of their children’s needs, that awareness makes them more responsive to those needs. This explanation is strengthened by the fact that many jurisdictions offer parenting courses for parents going through divorce – sometimes these courses are mandatory. They offer a way to help parents cope with the added stress and responsibility in a way that does not hurt the children.

Another explanation that has been offered is that the high profile, bitterly contested divorce is actually atypical. Most divorces involve parents who remain committed to continuing to nurture their children and are willing to collaborate with each other, at least to some extent, to see that this happens.

We should keep in mind however that the study looks at the capabilities of each individual parent. It did not look at the way in which divorce affects the ability of the two parents together to provide the parenting children require. In other words, it does not tell us that one parent can do the job just as well is two. Neither does it tell us that two separated or divorced parents can do the job just as well as married parents can.

This distinction is important when considering statistics that show that children of divorce are more likely to encounter problems in school, and in the community. It may not be that either parent is less able to parent after divorce. But it may be that simply because parents are not together, and consistently working together the way they could before the separation, that makes the difference.

“For a fast, low-cost, lawyer-free legal divorce visit www.DivorceOnline.ca.”