Custody, Access and Child Support: Findings from The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• I - INTRODUCTION
• II - THE COMPLEX FAMILY LIVES OF CANADIAN CHILDREN
  • Increasing Numbers of Children are Being Born to Unmarried Parents
  • An Increasing Proportion of Children are Experiencing Life in Single Parent Families and at an Increasingly Young Age
  • Children Born to Common-Law Couples Face a Greater Risk of Experiencing Their Parents' Separation
• III - WHEN PARENTS SEPARATE: CANADIAN CHILDREN FROM BROKEN FAMILIES AND THE LAW
  • Children from Broken Families Come Disproportionately from Common-Law Unions
  • Mom and Dad Were Married: Will They Divorce?
  • Custody Arrangements
  • Existence of Court Orders for Custody and Variations by Time Since Separation, Type of Separation and Region of Canada
  • Existence of a Court Order for Custody by Degree of Tension Between Separated Parents
  • Custody
  • Legal Custody, Living Arrangements and Access to the Non-custodial Parent
  • Living Arrangements of the Children by Whether or Not A Court Order for Custody Existed
  • Contact with the Non-custodial Parent
  • Patterns of Contact Between Non-custodial Parents and Their Children by Age of Children and Time Since Separation
  • Child Support and Access to the Non-custodial Parent
  • Court-Ordered Child Support Arrangements
  • Regularity of Child Support Payments by Type of Child Support Agreement and Type of Parental Separation
  • Frequency of Contact with the Non-custodial Parent by Type of Child Support Agreement and Regularity of Payments
• IV - CONCLUSION
• ENDNOTES

LIST OF TABLES

• Table 1: Distribution of All Children and of Children from Broken Families by Cohort and Type of Parental Union at Time of Birth--NLSCY, Cycle 1, 1994-1995
• Table 2: Impact of Given Variables on the Probability of Separated Parents Getting a Divorce--NLSCY, Cycle 1, 1994-1995
• Table 3: Distribution of Children According to Whether a Court Order for Custody Exists, by Region, Type of Broken Union and Time Elapsed Since Separation--NLSCY, Cycle 1, 1994-1995
• Table 4: Percentage of Children from Broken Families for Whom a Court Order for Custody Does Not Exist, According to the Time Elapsed Since Separation and the Type of Parental Separation--NLSCY, Cycle 1, 1994-1995
• Table 5: Impact of Given Variables on the Probability That a Court Order for Custody Exists--NLSCY, Cycle 1, 1994-1995
• Table 6: Court-Ordered Custody Arrangements, According to the Region, the Age of the Child at Separation and the Type of Broken Union--NLSCY, Cycle 1, 1994-1995
• Table 7: Living Arrangements at Time of Separation for Children of Broken Families, by Whether a Court Order for Custody Exists--NLSCY, Cycle 1, 1994-1995
• Table 8: Type of Contact Maintained with Either Parent at Time of Separation, Whether the Broken Union Was a Marriage or Common-Law Union--Canada and Regions--NLSCY, Cycle 1, 1994-1995
• Table 9: Type of Contact Maintained with Father at Time of Separation, According to Age of Child--NLSCY, Cycle 1, 1994-1995
• Table 10: Type of Contact Maintained with Either Parent at Time of Survey, Whether the Broken Union Was a Marriage or Common-Law Union, and According to Time Elapsed Since Separation--NLSCY, Cycle 1, 1994-1995
• Table 11: Type of Support Agreement According to Type of Broken Union--Canada and Regions--NLSCY, Cycle 1, 1994-1995
• Table 12: Type of Support Agreement According to Time Elapsed Since Separation--Canada and Regions--NLSCY, Cycle 1, 1994-1995
• Table 13: Type of Support Agreement According to Type of Broken Union and Time Elapsed Since Separation--NLSCY, Cycle 1, 1994-1995
• Table 14: Type of Support Agreement and Regularity of Payments, According to Type of Broken Union--NLSCY, Cycle 1, 1994-1995
• Table 15: Type of Contact Maintained with Fathers at Time of Separation, According to the Nature of Child Support Agreement--NLSCY, Cycle 1, 1994-1995
• Table 16: Impact of Given Variables on the Propensity of Fathers to Maintain Contact with Their Children--NLSCY, Cycle 1, 1994-1995 35
• Table 17: Impact of the Regularity of Payments and of Other Variables on the Propensity of Fathers to Maintain Contact with Their Children, for Those Covered by a Support Agreement--NLSCY, Cycle 1, 1994-1995

LIST OF FIGURES

• Figure 1: Family Context at Birth for Various Cohorts of Children--Canada
• Figure 2: Family Context at Birth for Various Cohorts of Children--Ontario and Quebec
• Figure 3: Cumulative Percentage of Canadian Children Who Were Born to a Lone Parent or Have Experienced the Separation of Their Parents, for Various Birth Cohorts
• Figure 4: Cumulative Percentage of Canadian Children Born in a Two-Parent Family, Who Have Experienced Their Parents' Separation, According to Type of Parents' Union--1983-1984 Cohorts--NLSCY 1994-1995
• Figure 5: Cumulative Percentage of Children Born in a Two-Parent Family, Who Have Experienced Their Parents' Separation Before Age 6, According to Type of Parents' Union--1983-1988 Cohorts--Quebec and Ontario--NLSCY 1994-1995
• Figure 6: Distribution of Children Aged 0-11 and of Children from Broken Families, According to Type of Parents' Union--Canada--NLSCY 1994-1995
• Figure 7: Distribution of Children Aged 0-11 and of Children from Broken Families, According to Type of Parents' Union--Quebec--NLSCY 1994-1995
• Figure 8: Percentage of Children from Broken Marriages Who Have Not Yet Witnessed Their Parents' Divorce, According to Time Elapsed Since Separation--NLSCY 1994-1995 (Life Table Estimates)
• Figure 9: Proportion of Children Whose Parents Have Been Separated for at Least 5 Years and for Whom a Custody Order Does Not Exist, According to the Type of Parental Separation--Quebec and Rest of Canada--NLSCY 1994-1995
• Figure 10: Degree of Tension Created by the Question of Living Arrangements or Visiting Rights, According to Type of Parental Separation--NLSCY 1994-1995
• Figure 11: Type of Contact Maintained with Either Parent at Time of Separation--NLSCY 1994-1995
• Figure 12: Type of Contact Maintained with Father at Time of Separation, Whether the Broken Union Was a Marriage or Common-Law Union--NLSCY 1994-1995
• Figure 13: Type of Contact Maintained with Father at the Time of Survey, According to Time Elapsed Since Separation--NLSCY 1994-1995 26
• Figure 14: Visiting Patterns with Father, for Children Living with Mother at Time of Separation, According to Regularity of Child Support Payments--NLSCY 1994-1995

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