Greater Success For Fathers In Child Custody Battles

There is data from the 2010 Census that shows a new trend of diminishing gender inequality in family law.  There has been a common outcome in past history regarding child custody battles. Custody of the child has historically been given to the mother far more often than the father.  A big factor in these common historic rulings is the fact that there has been a taboo assigned to separating children from there mother.  This idea can be traced back to a common thought that mothers are the primary care givers of the children while, the fathers are the "breadwinners".  As time as progressed to present day however, this historic sense of the household has changed.  In the common family today, both the mother and the father share these responsibilities.  Ironically enough, the rulings in child custody cases have not begun to reflect this change until now. 


According to the U.S Census, the number of families with single, male heads of households increased by 27.3 percent.  U.S households consisting of single fathers has jumped 6.3 percent since 2000.  These statistics reflect the fact that the changes in cultural norms and legal rules have resulted in a greater number of fathers gaining custody of their children following a divorce.  The first changes in legal rules regarding child custody was seen in 1973 in Indiana.  It became the first state to enact a law declaring that no parent is favored for child custody because of his or her gender.  Over time other states have followed suite by enacting laws similar to that of Indiana.  This problem of gender inequality that has plagued family law for so long is finally "seeing some light at the end of the tunnel".