A report by a committee of MPs said that it had 'significant concerns' about a clause in the Children and Families Bill designed to encourage parental involvement in cases of family breakdown, on the grounds that any new presumption or legislative statement might detract from the principle that the best interests of the child were paramount.
Source: Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Children and Families Bill, Fourth Report (Session 2012–13), HC 739, House of Commons Justice Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Dec
A study examined the views of young adults who had experienced parental separation in their earlier years. The authors said that coalition government plans to amend the law to introduce a presumption of shared parenting were well-intentioned but misguided. Courts should retain their existing discretion to put the needs and wishes of individual children first when considering contact disputes between parents.
Source: Jane Fortin, Joan Hunt, and Lesley Scanlan, Taking a Longer View of Contact: The perspectives of young adults who experienced parental separation in their youth, Sussex Law School, University of Sussex
Links: Report | Summary | Sussex University press release | Nuffield Foundation press release
Date: 2012-Nov
A study examined why some separated fathers found it difficult to establish a collaborative parenting arrangement with their child's mother, and to access support that might help them do so.
Source: Victoria Bourne and Shane Ryan, Collaborative Parenting: Barriers Faced by Separated Fathers, Research Report 815, Department for Work and Pensions
Date: 2012-Nov
A report reviewed key research evidence to facilitate understanding among professionals working in the family justice system in areas relating to: neuroscience perspectives on children's cognitive, social, and emotional development; the implications of maltreatment on childhood and adulthood well-being; evidence concerning the outcomes of interventions by the courts and children's social care; and timeframes for intervening and why they were out of kilter with those for children.
Source: Rebecca Brown and Harriet Ward, Decision-Making within a Child's Timeframe: An overview of current research evidence for family justice professionals concerning child development and the impact of maltreatment, Working Paper 16, Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Nov
A study examined how effective divorce-related interventions were in supporting fathers who were separated from their children.
Source: Georgia Philip and Margaret O Brien, Supporting Fathers after Separation or Divorce: Evidence and insights, Centre for Research on the Child and Family (University of East Anglia)
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Oct
A paper said that the income loss on separation for women who were cohabiting was less than the loss for those who were married, even after matching observable characteristics including age and children. This difference was not explained by differences in access to benefits or labour supply responses after separation: it arose because of differences in access to family support networks. Cohabitees were more likely to live with other adults, particularly other family members, following separation. Divorced women did not return to living with their extended families. The greater legal protection offered by marriage therefore did not appear to translate into economic protection.
Source: Hayley Fisher and Hamish Low, Financial Implications of Relationship Breakdown: Does marriage matter?, Working Paper 12/17, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Date: 2012-Oct
A study found that the incidence of wife-granted divorces had more than halved since 1993. Less pressure from family and society to get married had made men who decided to marry more dedicated to their relationship.
Source: Harry Benson, Divorce Rates Have Halved for New Brides. Why?, Marriage Foundation
Links: Report | Marriage Foundation press release
Date: 2012-Sep
The coalition government published draft legislation on family justice. It said that the proposed changes were intended: to promote the resolution of disputes away from court wherever possible; to ensure that decisions made by the family courts about the arrangements for children following parental divorce or separation reflected the benefit to the child of maintaining the ongoing involvement of both parents in a child's life; to streamline the court process for divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership; and to ensure the more timely progression of care and supervision proceedings in the interests of children.
Source: Draft Legislation on Family Justice, Cm 8437, Department for Education, TSO
Links: Draft legislation
Date: 2012-Sep
An official advisory body began consultation on proposals designed to provide greater clarity to divorcing couples, and to the courts, over the way in which financial settlements should be reached.
Source: Matrimonial Property, Needs and Agreements: A supplementary consultation paper, LC208, Law Commission
Links: Consultation document | Summary | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Sep
An article examined differences across Europe in attitudes towards divorce involving children under the age of 12. It was found that the lower the poverty rate among lone parents, and the higher enrolment in childcare, the lower the disapproval of divorce when young children were involved.
Source: Arieke Rijken and Aart Liefbroer, 'European views of divorce among parents of young children: understanding cross-national variation', Demographic Research, Volume 27
Date: 2012-Jul
A report by a senior judge set out proposals to change the culture of family courts and speed up cases in England and Wales (following an official review). The plans included: a single family court run by judges and magistrates; less reliance on expert witnesses; decisions and processes of the court to be better explained to the children involved; more training and guidance for judges to help them reach swifter decisions; and the views of children to be heard and communicated to the court.
Source: Ernest Ryder, Judicial Proposals for the Modernisation of Family Justice, Judiciary of England and Wales
Links: Report | Judiciary press release | ADCS press release | Barnardos press release | Justice Gap press release | BBC report | Community Care report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
See also: Family Justice Review (November 2011)
Date: 2012-Jul
The government began consultation on proposals to reinforce the general expectation that both parents were jointly responsible for their children's upbringing, including following a separation, and to enable parents who were able and willing to play a positive role in their child's care to do so.
Source: Co-operative Parenting Following Family Separation: Proposed legislation on the involvement of both parents in a child's life, Department for Education/Ministry of Justice
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2012-Jul
The government began consultation on court orders in private family cases regarding the care of children in England and Wales. Under the plans, family courts would normally assume that the child's welfare was best served by remaining involved with both parents.
Source: Co-operative Parenting Following Family Separation: Proposed Legislation on the Involvement of Both Parents in a Child's Life, Department for Education/Ministry of Justice
Links: Consultation document | DE press release | Fatherhood Institute press release | Irwin Mitchell press release | NFM press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Jun
An article used the Office for National Statistics longitudinal study for England and Wales to investigate whether mixed-ethnic unions were more likely to end in divorce than co-ethnic unions. It followed married couples over the period 1991-2001 and examined their risks of divorce. There was evidence that mixed-ethnic unions had a higher risk of dissolution than co-ethnic unions. However, after controlling for partners' characteristics – most importantly the younger ages of people in mixed-ethnic unions – it was found that the risk of divorce for mixed-ethnic unions was not elevated.
Source: Zhiqiang Feng, Paul Boyle, Maarten van Ham, and Gillian Raab, 'Are mixed-ethnic unions more likely to dissolve than co-ethnic unions? New evidence from Britain', European Journal of Population, Volume 28 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
A study found that independent social work reports added considerable value in complex family cases, and led to better decision-making for children – challenging the perception that the reports caused delay and duplicated local authority work. It found that the reports provided mostly high quality, transparent, forensic, and evidenced-based assessments.
Source: Julia Brophy, Charlie Owen, Judith Sidaway, and Jagbir Jhutti Johal, The Contribution of Experts in Care Proceedings: Evaluation of independent social work reports in care proceedings, CISWA-UK (Confederation of Independent Social Work Agencies)
Links: Report | Summary | CISWA press release | Community Care report
Date: 2012-Apr
A survey by an all-party group of MPs found that fathers who separated from their wives or partners often faced a difficult transition that involved increased risk of unemployment, absence from work through sickness, and declining mental health.
Source: Ross Jones, Adrienne Burgess, and Vahsti Hale, The Fathers Journey : A survey of help-seeking behaviour by separating and recently separated fathers, All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fatherhood
Links: Report | Fatherhood Institute press release
Date: 2012-Apr
A study examined the standard of 'expert' psychological reports submitted in family court proceedings. Two-thirds of the reports reviewed were rated as below the expected standard. The qualifications of 20 per cent of instructed psychologists were evaluated as inadequate for the role, on the basis of their submitted curriculum vitae.
Source: Jane Ireland, Evaluating Expert Witness Psychological Reports: Exploring quality, University of Central Lancashire
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Mar
The coalition government published its response to an official review of the family justice system in England and Wales. It proposed the introduction of rules designed to ensure that children enjoyed 'an ongoing relationship with both parents' after a separation. Divorced and separated fathers would be given stronger rights to see their children. 'Parenting agreements' could be used to ensure that children maintained a relationship with other close family members. Other proposed reforms included a 6-month time limit for the settling of care and adoption cases.
Source: The Government Response to the Family Justice Review: A system with children and families at its heart, Cm 8273, Ministry of Justice/Department for Education, TSO
Links: Response | Hansard | Bar Council press release | Barnardos press release | Family Lives press release | Labour Party press release | Napo press release | NFM press release | Relate press release | Guardian report
Notes: Review report (November 2011)
Date: 2012-Feb