Unequal Treatment: The Bias in Child Custody Cases

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When a couple get’s a divorce, most of the time the child lives with their mother (Zinsmeister). This is how it has remained for years. Laws should focus more on the fact that children are better off with both parents in their lives (Jones). It is insane that this is not even considered. With that being said, Fathers receive custody only 8-14% of the time, and mothers 68-88% (Hughes). This is a major difference. A 50-50 split in custody only occurs two to six percent of the time after a divorce (Hughes). There could be reasons as to why this does not occur, but a majority of the time there is not. In child custody cases, fathers receive unequal treatment because marriages are not equal to begin with, many assume that men are unable to be good …show more content…

Society views breadwinning as an important aspect to men and parenting as an important aspect to women (Staples). For so long, men were always pictured as the one who is away earning money to provide for the family while the mother is at home caring for the children. For many men, fatherhood is equally important if not more important than work and leisure (Staples). Times have changed, and many fathers want to be involved in their children’s lives. Employers view men as being more committed to earning money than women are (Miller). They believe that a woman should be at home taking care of the kids and keeping up with the housework. This view categorizes men into the stereotype that they care more about working than they do about being with their kids. Women earn significantly less after marriage, once they have children, their earnings decrease even more (Miller). This shows that men and women are even unequal in the workplace. Most women give up so much when they have children. This makes them a “stay at home mom” which is also another stereotypical role in many marriages. This shows that women and men are not equal. Men actually end up earning more money after they have children (Miller). This is due to wives staying home with their newborns and the fathers being stuck at work for long hours. The roles of men and women remain the same way they did years ago, they are just modernized. Each marriage may be different but they are structured similarly. Men and women are expected to be in specific roles. Now to the next reason why men receive unequal treatment in custody

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