Whether they were married to the mother of their children or not, every single father who participates in his children’s lives has his own way of spending time with them. Questions about how fathers spend time with their children, however, definitely makes one wonder what’s common and typical in this department. This article will take a look at what the statistics say about single dads and how they interact with their children.
Interestingly, when fathers are living apart from their children, 22 percent of them spend time with their kids over two times a week. Twenty-nine percent spend time with their children between one and four times a week. Surprisingly, though, 27 percent don’t see their kids at all.
Interestingly, in 51 percent of child custody matters, fathers come to a mutual agreement with the mother to award primary physical custody to the mother. In 29 percent of these cases, no third-party mediator was involved in the decision. In 11 percent, the decision came about through mediation. In 5 percent, the decision came following a custody evaluation.
Interestingly, only 4 percent of child custody matters go to trial, and out of those, just 1.5 percent go to the final hearing. This fact is interesting from the perspective of father’s rights. Sometimes fathers think that the cards are stacked against them during a child custody trial, because they see so many mothers with full custody of their children. However, Tennessee courts tend to view fathers and mothers equally during child custody proceedings, regardless of their sexes. As such, if you’re a Tennessee father looking to secure your right to child custody, rest assured that the law may be on your side.
Source: Huffington Post, “Dispelling The Myth Of Gender Bias In The Family Court System,” accessed Feb. 16, 2017
