A study examined the enforcement of child contact orders by courts in England, and why the family courts infrequently used punitive sanctions. The report said that adequate punitive sanctions were in place, were mostly used when required, and were able to gain compliance. It recommended that policy should move away from its focus on the most difficult cases and seek to secure sustainable, safe and child-centred solutions for the whole range of cases. The report made recommendations.
Source: Liz Trinder, Joan Hunt, Alison Macleod, Julia Pearce, and Hilary Woodward, Enforcing Contact Orders: Problem-solving or punishment?, Exeter Law School (University of Exeter)
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Dec
A report examined the survey evidence from a trial of early intervention relationship support to new parents in England. The trials sought to give advice about keeping relationships healthy in a way that normalized engagement with the service, so that people knew where to get further help if it was required. The trials ran from October 2012 to June 2013.
Source: TNS BMRB, Relationship Support Trials for New Parents: Evaluation technical report, Department for Education
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Dec
A report examined the treatment of the views of children when their parents sought court intervention in custody disputes in Scotland and there were allegations of domestic abuse made by one or both parents. It said that fewer than half of children had contact orders that reflected their wishes, and that this varied by age. The report said that courts should not assume that contact would benefit the child. It recommended improvements in the methods for taking views, training for those involved in seeking children's views, and protections for children from retaliatory abuse.
Source: Kirsteen Mackay, The Treatment of the Views of Children in Private Law Child Contact Disputes Where There is a History of Domestic Abuse, Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People
Links: Report | SCCYP press release
Date: 2013-Dec
An article examined the practice of family mediators in screening for domestic violence cases during Mediation Information Assessment Meetings. MIAMs were introduced following the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act of 2012 as a means of bringing separating couples together to discuss legal disputes. The meeting also assessed eligibility for legal aid funding, including funding on the grounds of domestic violence or abuse. Drawing on a small scale study, the article suggested that, although the observed mediators screened for domestic violence, the question of the effectiveness of that screening remained unanswered.
Source: Paulette Morris, 'Mediation, the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act of 2012 and the mediation information assessment meeting', Journal of Social Welfare & Family Law, Volume 35 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Nov
An article examined the contribution of the first Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) within care proceedings in England and Wales, in the context of changes under the Children and Families Bill of 2013. It concluded that FDAC could play a role in safe reunification at the end of care proceedings, but adaptations would be necessary to meet challenges posed by the new legislation.
Source: Judith Harwin, Bachar Alrouh, Mary Ryan, and Jo Tunnard, 'Strengthening prospects for safe and lasting family reunification: can a Family Drug and Alcohol Court make a contribution?', Journal of Social Welfare & Family Law, Volume 35 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Nov
An article examined fathering after separation or divorce. New contexts of fathering could bring transformative experiences of care: but fathers also encountered the 'pull' of a gendered model of parenting, which normalized different levels of caring responsibility without disrupting a sense of the equal moral status of fathers and mothers. The author argued for a gender-sensitive approach to understanding parenting after separation – one that fully appreciated the deeply felt, embodied nature of fathering and mothering, and acknowledged their relational and moral dimensions.
Source: Georgia Philip, 'Relationality and moral reasoning in accounts of fathering after separation or divorce; care, gender and working at "fairness"', Families, Relationships and Societies, Volume 2 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Nov
A study examined contact between children and fathers who did not reside together. The report said that: the majority (87 per cent) of non-resident fathers continued to have contact with their children, although 13 per cent reported having no contact at all; 81 per cent said they were 'very or quite close' with their children; and almost half (49 per cent) said that their children stayed with them regularly. The report also said that contact levels varied according to: the economic circumstances of the father; whether the father made a financial contribution to the child; and whether he had other children (his own, or those of a new partner) living with him.
Source: Eloise Poole, Svetlana Speight, Margaret O Brien, Sara Connolly, and Matthew Aldrich, What Do We Know About Nonresident Fathers?, NatCen Social Research/Thomas Coram Research Unit/University of East Anglia
Links: Report | Modern Fatherhood press release | NatCen press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Nov
An article examined the extent to which marital and cohabiting unions differed with respect to the short-term effects of union dissolution on mental health, using data from the British Household Panel Survey. Initial differences were not statistically significant once the presence of children was controlled for, suggesting that the presence of children was a particularly significant source of increased psychological distress in union dissolutions. However, parenthood did not explain serious psychological distress.
Source: Lara Patricio Tavares and Arnstein Aassve, 'Psychological distress of marital and cohabitation breakups', Social Science Research, Volume 42 Issue 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
A study in Scotland found that women were foregoing their share of pension schemes under separation arrangements in order to secure the family home. A recurrent theme in settlement agreements was women's determination to stay in the family home: for men, the key asset they wanted to keep was pensions. As a result 25 per cent of women reported being worse off financially, whereas almost all the men surveyed reported that their financial situation was either the same or better than when they had been married.
Source: Jane Mair, Fran Wasoff, and Kirsteen Mackay, All Settled? A study of legally binding separation agreements and private ordering in Scotland, Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (University of Edinburgh)
Links: Report | Summary | Glasgow University press release | Herald Scotland report
Date: 2013-Aug
An article examined the relationship between women's ages at first marriage and marriage cohort divorce rates in England and Wales. It assessed the importance of relative ages at marriage (based on rankings within marriage cohorts) and of absolute, chronological ages at marriage; and it evaluated the contribution of changes in the age at marriage distribution to observed divorce rates. The results suggested that much of the impact of age at marriage was linked to relative ages, reducing the extent of this 'braking' effect. It also appeared that a positive effect of relative age at marriage on the risk of divorce for later marriages was outweighed by the negative effect of absolute age at marriage at higher ages.
Source: Richard Lampard, 'Age at marriage and the risk of divorce in England and Wales', Demographic Research, Volume 29
Date: 2013-Jul
A think-tank report said that the problem of family breakdown was continuing to worsen, with over 20,000 new lone-parent families forming every year. By the age of 15, almost half of all children were no longer living with both their parents, and a million children had no meaningful contact with their fathers. Family instability and breakdown was a driver of disadvantage and social exclusion, and strengthening and supporting families was therefore a matter of social justice. There was no simple causal explanation or solution. Despite the coalition government's family-focused rhetoric, its actions had thus far failed to reflect the central importance of the family in society.
Source: Fractured Families: Why stability matters, Centre for Social Justice
Links: Report | Summary | CSJ press release | Bath University press release | Gingerbread press release | BBC report | Daily Mail report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Jun
An article examined the pathways into living alone in mid-life, and how these varied by gender and socio-economic status. The dissolution of a marriage with children was the dominant pathway into mid-life solo living: but there was also a substantial group of never-partnered men living alone. These men were split between those with low and high socio-economic status. Men living alone who had not had children, had no educational qualifications, were not economically active, and who lived in rented housing were likely to be most at risk of needing a social and economic 'safety net' in old age.
Source: Dieter Demey, Ann Berrington, Maria Evandrou, and Jane Falkingham, 'Pathways into living alone in mid-life: diversity and policy implications', Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations, Volume 18 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jun
The Children and Families Bill was given a third reading. The Bill was designed to (among other things): reform the adoption system; introduce greater flexibility in parental leave arrangements; reform the system of special educational needs; strengthen the role of the children's rights watchdog; cut delays in the family justice system; and reduce regulation of the childcare sector. However, plans to allow nurseries and childminders in England to increase the ratio of children to carers were dropped.
Source: Children and Families Bill, Department for Education, TSO | Debate 11 June 2013, columns 175-294, House of Commons Hansard, TSO
Links: Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard
Date: 2013-Jun
A report said that cohabiting couples who had children were more than twice as likely to split up as those who had married beforehand.
Source: Harry Benson, The Myth of 'Long-Term Stable Relationships' outside of Marriage, Marriage Foundation
Links: Report | Marriage Foundation press release | Daily Mail report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-May
A new book examined the delivery of family justice in England and Wales, focusing on the work of the family judiciary in the lower courts. It offered a defence of the role of legal rights in family life, and the importance of good policy-making that balanced outcome- and behaviour-based approaches to family justice. Despite the move to privatized forms of dispute resolution, family justice still demanded a sound judicial structure.
Source: John Eekelaar and Mavis Maclean, Family Justice: The work of family judges in uncertain times, Hart Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-May
A special issue of a journal examined the impact of legal aid reform on the family justice system.
Source: Journal of Social Welfare & Family Law, Volume 35 Number 1
Links: Table of contents
Notes: Articles included:
Stephen Cobb, ''
Graham Cookson, ''
Chris Bevan, ''
Frances Meyler and Sarah Woodhouse, ''
Debra Morris and Warren Barr, ''
Alexy Buck and Marisol Smith, ''
Date: 2013-Apr
An article examined out-of-court family dispute resolution in England and Wales. Although mediation was the best recognized form of dispute resolution, people who had used it were, in general, less satisfied with it than were those who had used solicitor negotiation or collaborative law. A high percentage of people settled disputes without seeking legal advice at all.
Source: Anne Barlow, Rosemary Hunter, Janet Smithson, Jan Ewing, Kate Getliffe, and Paulette Morris, 'Mapping paths to family justice: a national picture of findings on out of court family dispute resolution', Family Law, March 2013
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Mar
The Children and Families Bill was published, and subsequently given a second reading. The Bill was designed to (among other things): reform the adoption system; introduce greater flexibility in parental leave arrangements; reform the system of special educational needs; strengthen the role of the children's rights watchdog; cut delays in the family justice system; and reduce regulation of the childcare sector.
Source: Children and Families Bill, Department for Education, TSO
Links: Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard (second reading) | Background document | DE press release | Speech | HOC research brief | Barnardos press release | CBI press release | CSW press release | EDCM press release | Fawcett Society press release | FPI press release | Labour Party press release | Mencap press release | NAHT press release | Nasen press release | NIACE press release | NUT press release | OCC press release | Scope press release | Working Families press release | Community Care report | Nursery World report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Feb
An article examined the association between union dissolution and self-assessed health in European panel data. The negative association between dissolution and self-assessed health was not due to a general negative effect of divorce on health. Rather, after union dissolution self-assessed health improved among some individuals, while for others it declined. Compared with being in a union continuously, union dissolution seemed to cause increases and decreases in health. There was also evidence for a negative effect of self-assessed health on dissolution risks.
Source: Christiaan Monden and Wilfred Uunk, 'For better and for worse: the relationship between union dissolution and self-assessed health in European panel data', European Journal of Population, Volume 29 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Feb
A report by an all-party group of MPs said that the government should provide training and support to social workers to enable them to produce good care plans and operate effectively in family courts. Judges specializing in family law should be used in family courts on a permanent basis.
Source: Making Care Proceedings Better for Children, Child Protection All Party Parliamentary Group
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Feb
A report said that a couple who married in 2001 had the same chance of getting divorced after 10 or more years of marriage as a couple who married in 1971.
Source: Harry Benson, What Is the Divorce Rate?, Marriage Foundation
Links: Report | Marriage Foundation press release
Date: 2013-Feb
The coalition government published an action plan (on behalf of the Family Justice Board) for improving the performance of the family justice system in England and Wales. The plan set out the actions the Board and its partners would take to: reduce delay in public law cases; resolve private law cases outside court where appropriate; build greater cross-agency coherence; and address local variations in performance.
Source: Family Justice Board: Action Plan to Improve the Performance of the Family Justice System, Ministry of Justice
Links: Action plan
Date: 2013-Jan