Bryan L. Salamone Child Custody Law Blog on Lawyers.com

PUNISHMENT FOR SUCCESS

Custody trends negatively affecting mothers with careers.

On October 20, 2009 FOX News Network reported that unemployment rates for Americans are disproportionate based upon gender.  Apparently, 11% of men are currently unemployed, while only 7% of women are suffering from this situation.  In fact, for the first time in history, in /3 of all married couples, the wife earns more than the husband.  This means that in one out of every three families, the main bread-winner is the wife. 

These statistics demonstrate positive and negative trends affecting women in custody cases.  There is an increase in cases whereby men are attempting to gain custody or otherwise obtain equal physical time with the children (shared parenting rather than joint custody) because they claim the mothers are “not available” to take care of their children due to their work commitments.

With more women working, and more women earning just as much as their male counterparts, there are more men saying “why can’t I have custody, or at least shared parenting time?”  Indeed, if both spouses work the exact same hours, assuming 9-5 and have similar earning capacities, it presents a level playing field in some respects.

If both parents are equal in the amount of time that they have available to parent their children, the court will look to chain of custody and history of care-giving.  For example if one parent is occupying a residence within the school district of the child.  Furthermore, if the child has “always been” with one parent and it is only recently that that one parent is entering the workforce, that parent may remain the primary care giver or physical custodian of the child.

While it is true that more men are seeking custody, this does not necessarily mean that they are obtaining custody; just because a woman is working the same amount of hours as their male counterpart.  The recent studies show that women are earning more than men, and that the higher salary helps women to retain custody.  For example, if one in every three marriages has a wife who earns more than the husband, then that woman has the highest probability of maintaining the residence that the child or children grew up in.

This is beneficial to women seeking to retain custody.  With women earning more, they are able to retain either the residence in which the child grew up in or similar or suitable residence in the child’s school district.  If that mother had been the primary care giver during the child’s first few years of life, she may retain physical custody although she is now a working mother.  The increased income for women is helping them hold back the trend that would otherwise have helped men prevail in more custody cases simply because their soon to be ex-wives work just as much or more than they do.  Without the increase in salary it may be that women would start to suffer the loss of physical custody more frequently than they are.

Our Long Island child custody law firm handles well over 600 cases per year and has focused on custody, divorce and family law for more than a decade.  We have 9 full time associates completely dedicated to matrimonial and family law.  Our custody cases have resulted in decisions that have been reported on network television and published in major news papers and magazines.  We area arguable the largest custody and matrimonial firm in Sufflok and Nassau.  We observe these trends and we have noticed more and more women working and earning more.  However, the result has not affected custody as much as one would think. 

It is because many women are working more than ever and obtaining careers with long hours that one would think that one would prevail in more and more cases.  However, this theory is balanced by the fact that 1/3 of all households include a working mother/wife who actually earns more than her male counterpart and, in a custody determination, she may favor her as a result of her ability to carry the home and obtain a suitable residence in the area in which the child has always lived and gone to school. 

Bryan L. Salamone & Associates, PC is a law firm located in Melville, New York.  We have a staff of 16 people (9 attorneys together with paralegals) who are completely and wholly dedicated to custody, divorce and family law cases.  Mr. Salamone and his firm handle hundreds of cases each year and offer free consultations to those who are seeking an attorney for a divorce, custody and/or family court matter.