Talk:Tender years doctrine

message: Regarding the statement:
"Statistics such as those from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that family courts still demonstrate an overwhelming preference to place children of divorce in the custody of their mothers,"
...statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau do not tell what trends are current in Family Court decisions.  They only tell what percentage of children live with their mothers or their fathers.  What this article does not take into account is that the vast majority of fathers never seek to petition the court for full custody (and responsibility) for their children.  In general, mothers continue to bear the greatest responsibility for children, and most divorced or separated fathers do not offer to take on, let alone fight for, full or even equal custody of their children.  Some sources (see below)indicate that when fathers DO sue for custody, courts tend to favor the father just because he presents himself as a father who wants to care for his children.  Although the mother may have been taking care of the children all along, this is expected of a mother, so she is given little credit, while the fact that a father wants to care for his children is something the courts want to encourage so much that they actually give preference to the father just because he asks for it.  That so few fathers ask for it (and so most children continue to live with their mothers, as census stats show) does not indicate that Family Courts favor the mother.
Sources include:
Child Custody by Marianne Takas Harper & Row 1987 "Most men do not seek custody, but if they do, they are actually more likely than the mother to get it.  In a recent major study, 63 percent of all men who sought custody of their children at divorce time did succeed in getting it."  (page 2)
The Divorce Revolution: The Unexpected Social and Economic Consequences for Women and Children in America by Lenore Weitzman The Free Press 1985
Mothers on Trial: The Battle for Children and Custody by Phyllis Chesler McGraw-Hill 1986
For an overview of child custody history and current trends, see "The Determination of
Child Custody in the USA" by Joan B. Kelly, Ph.D.  at:  http://www.stanford.edu/group/psylawseminar/Child%20Custody%20in%20the%20USA%20%28Page%201%20of%205%29.htm
DSK369 (talk) 07:53, 22 August 2011 (UTC)

message: So after reading the reply I can see two issues that haven't been addressed. 
1) Prohibitive cost of court battle. 
Many times people settle out of court and the decision remains unattested due to the cost of legal bills. Many lower socioeconomic groups simply can't afford to take their dispute to court and therefore forfeit their rights to be a father, technically by choice on paper, but in actual fact it is more complex than simply desertion of responsibilities. 
2)You mention that if males do do fight they often win.
These cases could simply be put down to the fact that sometimes it is overwhelmingly clear that due to mental health or drug related issued that the father is in fact the best person to take up the carer position. In these cases the father would have enough increased confidence to put money towards a legal dispute that would fall in his favor. 
To me the statistics could be read multiple ways and to me remain inconclusive. 
125.239.126.3 (talk) 02:49, 10 November 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Issues with the statistics.