Thread by @MSS3RosaFerreum

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 The author, Cathy Meyer, came to the conclusion that " "based on child custody statistics, that the courts are not the reason mothers gain custody in the majority of divorces" and that fathers give up custody instead of fight for custody (liveabout.com/child-custody-…).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 Is gender bias during custody decisions a myth?

Consider Jo-Ellen Paradise, "The Disparity Between Men and Women in Custody Disputes: Is Joint Custody the Answer to Everyone's Problems?" 72 St. John's Law Review 517 (1998) (available at: scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/cgi/viewconten…).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 "The most common form of child custody is sole custody. …Sole custody is popular for several reasons; it is the traditional custodial arrangement and it perpetuates the traditional notion that mothers, not fathers, are essential parents." 72 St. John's Law Review 537–538 (1998).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 "While sole custody arrangements continue to enjoy great favor, in most situations it is actually detrimental to both children and parents." 72 St. John's Law Review 538 (1998).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 "Unfortunately, however, until joint custody becomes a widely utilized and encouraged custody arrangement, it appears that sole custody will remain the most common form of child custody, and mothers the most common recipients." 72 St. John's Law Review 538 (1998).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 Consider "The Divorce Bargain: The Fathers’ Rights Movement and Family Inequalities" by Deborah Dinner published in 2016 in Volume 102 of the _Virginia Law Review_ beginning at page 79 (available at: poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?I…).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 "[L]egal reforms enabling fathers to fulfill caregiving roles through joint custody would also enable mothers to fulfill breadwinning roles." 102 Virginia Law Review 128 (poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?I…).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 "By promoting joint custody as well as sex-neutral spousal maintenance, …the [divorce] bargain liberalized gender roles within divorced families, offering a model of a more egalitarian family structure." 102 Virginia Law Review 142 (poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?I…).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 "[T]he available evidence gleaned from comprehensive research into the movements’ archival record suggests that fathers’ rights activists genuinely pursued both the rewards and responsibilities of caring for their children." 102 Virginia Law Review 145 (poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?I…).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 "Criticism of joint custody formed part of a broader critique among feminist legal theorists in the 1980s about what they perceived as an earlier generation of feminist reformers’ mistaken focus on same treatment." 102 Virginia Law Review 144 (poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?I…).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 Consider "Lagging Behind the Times: Parenthood, Custody, and Gender Bias in the Family Court" by Cynthia A. McNeely published in 1998 in Volume 25 of the _Florida State University Law Review_ beginning on page 891 (available at: ir.law.fsu.edu/cgi/viewconten…)

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 "[T]he father [was designated] as the natural protector of children because he had the ability to provide for their financial support. Women were seen as incapable of handling legal or financial matters…." 25 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 891, 897 (1998).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 "Because fathers usually provided the family’s sole income through their employment away from the home [during the Industrial Revolution], this absence advanced the fathers' 'long march from the center to the periphery of domestic life.'" 25 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. at 898 (1998).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 "Congress implemented the Talfourd Act of 1839 to legislate the presumption that courts should award custody of children under age seven to the mother." 25 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. at 897 (1998).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 "This presumption became known as the 'tender-years doctrine,' which legalized for the first time the belief that mothers were better suited to raise children than fathers." 25 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. at 897 (1998).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 "Eventually, 'the tender-years presumption became the rationale for awarding custody of children of all ages to the mother on a permanent basis.'" 25 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. at 899 (1998).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 "[T]he continuous refrain throughout the last one hundred years has been that when it comes to childrearing, fathers are not that important." 25 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. at 914 (1998).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 Cathy Meyer writes "[a] married father spends, on average 6.5 hours a week taking part in primary child care activities with his children. The married mother spends, on average 12.9 hours."

Ms. Meyer fails to address the #GenderedLaborGap, so let's fix that.

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 If you add up both the unpaid labor and paid labor, on average, men work more total time than women creating a #GenderedLaborGap pursuant to the @BLS_gov's 2017 American Time Use Survey (bls.gov/news.release/a…) and @pewresearch data (pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018…).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch American Time Use Survey (with 2017 as an example) shows that women on average are not spending enough more time with their kids, doing chores, or anything else to justify women's lack of time working.

On average, men just work more in America (considering both paid and unpaid).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch Let's do the math:

Table 8A, column 1: Men: Women:
Household activities: 1.31 2.34
Caring for household: 1.01 1.85
Work-related activities: 5.46 3.37
==========
Total: 7.78 7.56

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch Now comparing the men from Table 8B to the women from Table 8C (where the youngest child is under 6):

Women care for and help household members 2.08 more hours per day than men in the most extreme case presented by Table 8A, but men work 6.43 hours more per day than women.

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch Similarly, comparing the men from Table 8B to the women from Table 8C (where the youngest child is under 6), women do household activities for 1.91 more hours per day than men in the most extreme case presented by Table 8A, but, again, men work 6.43 hours more per day than women.

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch Let's do the math: Men: Women:
Household activities: 1.26 3.17
Caring for household: 1.42 3.36
Work-related activities: 6.57 0.00
==========
Total: 9.25 6.53

Who is doing more?

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch By comparing the men from Table 8B to the women from Table 8C (using the youngest child under 6 column), we see the situation where women are unemployed and spending the most time caring not only for the children but the whole family.

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch Other @BLS_gov data (see below) indicates that 61% of families have both parents employed (bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/…), but does not indicate whether the mothers are working full-time or part-time.

The American Time Use Survey does have an answer in Table 8B.

Let's check that out.

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch Let's do the math:

Table 8B, column 1: Men: Women:
Household activities: 1.23 1.90
Caring for household: 0.93 1.52
Work-related activities: 6.35 5.01
===========
Total: 8.51 8.43

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch Maybe women are forced to stay home with their kids and that causes the gap. If true, women with no kids should be working the same amount as men in the workforce as there is no reason not to since there is no reason to be on call and no extra household or child care duties.

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch Let's do that math:

Table 8A, column 4: Men: Women:
Household activities: 1.54 2.21
Caring for household: 0.07 0.07
Work-related activities: 4.11 2.83
===========
Total: 5.72 5.11

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch Consider just workers:

Table 8B, column 4: Men: Women:
Household activities: 1.34 1.80
Caring for household: 0.04 0.05
Work-related activities: 6.17 5.29
===========
Total: 7.55 7.14

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch Whether you consider all currently childless folks (Table 8A) or just the ones working (Table 8B), women spend less time on paid labor and related activities and women spend less time working considering both unpaid domestic labor and paid labor added together. The pattern holds.

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch Cathy Meyer writes "[s]ince two-income households are now the norm, not the exception, the above information indicates that not only are mothers working they are also doing twice as much child care as fathers" (liveabout.com/child-custody-…), but this is false as demonstrated above.

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch With men on average spending 1.01 hours doing childcare and women on average spending 1.85 hours doing childcare and women doing 22 minutes less total work (when both paid labor and unpaid domestic labor is considered). Women are not doing double the childcare men are.

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch Cathy Meyer writes "with changing attitudes toward child custody fathers are still likely to gain at least 50/50 custody if they are willing to fight for it" (liveabout.com/child-custody-…). This is historically false as noted hereinabove and more recent papers still document this.

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch Consider "Beyond Economic Fatherhood: Encouraging Divorced Fathers to Parent" by Solangel Maldonado published in 2005 in Volume 153 of the _University of Pennsylvania Law Review_ beginning at page 921 (available at: poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?I…).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch "Although joint custody is more common today than ever before, sole residential custody to one parent (usually the mother) is still the most common custodial arrangement after divorce." 153 U. Pa. L. Rev. 921, 966 (2005).

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch Cathy Meyer asserts "[m]others gain custody because the vast majority of fathers choose to give the mother custody," but provides no citation demonstrating that this is true.

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch Cathy Meyer asserts "[t]here is no Family Court bias in favor of mothers for the majority of fathers who divorce," but provides no citation demonstrating that this is true.

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch Well, @adamgreeney, your source (liveabout.com/child-custody-…) asserts that "Men get custody more often WHEN THEY ASK" (archive.ph/fKfg4), but your source provides no evidence to support that position beyond a naked assertion.

@adamgreeney @JohnDavisJDLLM @taywil64 @oscarandjeeves @SmussieJollett @TheMightyV24 @BLS_gov @pewresearch @threadreaderapp, please unroll.