Shared Residence Among Parents Living Apart in Norway

• Date: 01 October 2017
• Author: Ragni Hege Kitterød,Kenneth Aarskaug Wiik
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12304
• Published date: 01 October 2017

SHARED RESIDENCE AMONG PARENTS LIVING APART

IN NORWAY

Ragni Hege Kitterød and Kenneth Aarskaug Wiik

Over the last decade there has been a dramatic increase in shared residence for children among parents living apart in Norway,

and a related shift away from mother sole custody. Currently, 3 in 10 children in separated families have shared residence,

compared to less than 10% at the beginning of the century. This likely reflects several factors, including more symmetrical par-

enting practices in intact families in Norway and policy measures that promote a more equal division of practical care and eco-

nomic provision among separated parents. Shared residence is most widespread among those from high socioeconomic

backgrounds. Parents with shared residence generally report better cooperation and less conflict than sole custody parents and

also more gender-equal caring practices prior to separation.

Key points for the Family Court Community:

In the 2000s there has been a dramatic increase in shared residence for children among parents living apart in Norway

and a related shift away from mother sole custody.

Shared residence after separation has typically been exercised by parents with higher socioeconomic resources who

report low levels of interparent conflict. Recently, however, shared residence has become more widespread in most

groups of Norwegian parents.

In 2012, around one in four shared residence parents in Norway reported a moderate or high lev elof i nterparent conflict.

Shared residence appears to be a relatively stable postseparation parenting arrangement in Norway, and 80% of

mothers and 86% of fathers with shared residence reported no change in their parenting arrangement after separation.

More equal parenting roles among separated parents is an important political ambition for the current Norwegian

government.

Keywords: Contemporary Families; Equal Parenting Roles; Family Policy; Joint Custody; Parents Living Apart; and

Shared Residence.

I. INTRODUCTION

In Norway, as elsewhere, shared residence has become more common among parents living apart

(Cancian, Meyer, Brown, & Cook, 2014; Fransson, Låftman, €

Ostberg, Hjern, & Bergst€

om, 2017;

Kitterød, Lid

en, Lyngstad, & Wiik, 2016; Smyth, Chisholm, Rodgers, & Son, 2014; Sodermans,

Matthijs, & Swicegood, 2013).

1

By contrast, mother sole custody is declining while father sole

custody continues to remain relatively uncommon. Currently, one in four Norwegian children in

separated families have shared residence, compared to less than 10% at the beginning of this century

(Kitterød & Lyngstad, 2014a). If we exclude parents who have never lived together, either as for-

mally married or cohabiting, the percentage of children with shared residence is even higher, about

30%. As with other Nordic countries, the symmetrical family model, where women and men in intact

families share paid and unpaid work equally between them, has been, and remains, a central political

ambition in Norway (Kitterød & Lappegård, 2012). Indeed, time-use surveys reveal a considerable

convergence of mothers’ and fathers’ time-use patterns (Kitterød & Rønsen, 2014). Married and

cohabiting fathers are increasingly involved in housework and childcare and typically continue their

involvement with their children after union dissolution. Mothers too appear to be more open to

Correspondence: hege.kitterod@samfunnsforskning.no, kaw@ssb.no

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 55 No. 4, October 2017 556–571

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C2017 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts

shared parenting than previously and tend to have more trust in the father’s capacity to care for their

children. They are also likely to collaborate with the father to be able to participate in the labor mar-

ket full time (Kitterød & Lyngstad, 2014a).

With around 25% of children below 18 years of age living apart from one of their biological

parents (mostly their father; Falnes-Dalheim & Dybendal 2016), improved understanding of the resi-

dential arrangements of these children remains an important policy focus. It has been increasingly

emphasized in the Norwegian policy context that parents living apart are equally responsible for the

practical and economic support of their children. However, whether shared residence should be the

norm if parents separate remains controversial.

In Norway, as in many Western countries (see, e.g., Cancian et al., 2014; Juby, Le Bourdais, &

Marcil-Gratton, 2005; Smyth et al., 2014), shared residence has typically been practiced primarily by

a small select group of separated parents: those with a high socioeconomic standing who report low

levels of interparental conflict (Kitterød & Lyngstad, 2012). But with the prevalence of shared resi-

dence steadily increasing, there has been concern that parents in high conflict and with fewer socio-

economic resources are now also opting for a shared residence arrangement. Several Norwegian

studies (e.g., Haugen, 2010; Skjørten, Barlindhaug, & Lid

en, 2007) suggest that although shared res-

idence works well for many children, it may not be the best solution for everyone. In particular,

mediators and the Ombudsman for Children in Norway emphasize that the guiding principle con-

cerning children’s residence when parents separate should be to ensure the best interests of each

child, rather than equality and fairness between parents (Grov & Severinsen, 2015; Lindboe, 2015).

The Norwegian debate on shared-time parenting became particularly intense in 2015–2016 when

shared residence was suggested as a guideline for parents in preparation for changes to the Children’s

Act (Høringsnotat, 2015).

In this article, we provide a brief overview of the policy context for separated families in Norway

and describe some important changes in the prevalence and demography of postseparation patterns

of parenting—with a particular focus on shared residence as an emerging family form. In addition,

we present results from analyses of interparental conflict among shared-residence parents as com-

pared with their sole-custody counterparts.

II. THE NORWEGIAN POLICY CONTEXT

With its active work–family policies promoting mothers’ labor-market participation and fathers’

involvement at home, Norway, like other Nordic countries, has long been considered the egalitar-

ian ideal for realizing the dual-earner/equal-sharing family model in intact families (Gornick &

Meyers, 2008). Family policy measures, such as the prevalence of affordable high-quality public

childcare and generous (paid) parental leave rights with a quota reserved for the father (currently

10 weeks), have eased the combination of employment and children for both mothers and fathers.

Fathers’ housework and childcare time has risen significantly in recent decades, particularly in the

2000s, and more active and involved fathering practices are found in most groups of fathers in

present-day Norway (Kitterød & Rønsen, 2014). Combined with an increase in mothers’ paid

employment, this has brought about more equal parenting roles—although in most couples, men

still do less unpaid family work than women and work more for pay (Bergsvik, Kitterød, & Wiik,

2016; Kitterød & Lappegård, 2012).

Consistent within this context, fathers are encouraged to continue their involvement with their

children if parents separate. As elsewhere (see other articles in this issue), fathers’ groups (largely

comprising nonresident fathers) have campaigned at the political level for more support for father–

child contact. Also, several policy measures have been implemented to promote more equal parent-

ing practices in separated families, both in terms of practical care and economic provision. For

example, since 2002, separated parents have been obliged to share the children’s traveling expenses

in order for fathers’ contact costs to be reduced. More recently, policy stipulates that transportation

Kitterød and Wiik/SHARED RESIDENCE IN NORWAY 557