An Equal Parenting Info Hub

Jul 29

By Emma Johnson

While I’ve been advocating for equal parenting for separated families for more than a decade, this year I doubled-down on what I see as a void in the equal parenting space: A hub of information on policy, research, and culture related to separated families.

So, I created Best Interest.

My goal: Create a hub for advocates to stay informed on the issue, come together and work together more efficiently. Maybe we recruit some new members and create a few converts along the way.

Feel free to use anything you find on the site as your own. My mantra:

It is astonishing what we can accomplish if you don’t care who gets credit.

A few changes I made to my work this year:

I rebranded from Moms for Shared parenting to Moms for Equal Parenting. I feel strongly that the movement needs to come together and commit to a single catchphrase:

Equal parenting.

A success catchphrase/slogan/motto/mantra/battlecry adheres to marketing basics:
- Clear, simple, short, specific. “Shared parenting” is NOT clear or simple — or accurate. A dad who has legal access to their kid two weekends per month has shared parenting. That is a failure!

Scientific. Our colleague Dr. Bill Fabricius has studied equal parenting for decades and found child outcomes improve the closer custody schedules get to 50/50.

Specific. “Shared” is vague. “About equal” is confusing and requires explanation — which any family lawyer will love to charge you $400 per hour to work out. Equal is specific.

Further, “equal” = equality. Equality connotes progressivism and feminism — movements traditionally opposed to 50/50 parenting presumptions. Let’s convince everyone they really want to be part of the party under our tent.

2. I moved to Substack where the newsletter is named Best Interest. Love it. Sign up 100% for free.

3. I write weekly now.

4. Expect the majority of the content to be about the culture — vs. law — that I believe positively impacts the issue we care most about: Kids having meaningful relationships with both their parents.

Some of the topics that have resonated most with readers:

Equal parenting means less family violence
The latest data on intimate partner violence, domestic violence, child abuse, female homocide rates and more — all of which improve when parenting time is presumed 50/50. Includes one-page PDF for free download for your activism. Feel free to slap your org’s logo on top.

Zombie theory: Women file for divorce because men are horrible
A decade-old study found women initiate 69% of divorce in heterosexual marriages. Mainstream media cites this relentlessly, attributing it to the sexist assumption that men are so lazy/sexist/inept. But women initiate divorce in 100% of lesbian marriages, which happen two to three-times higher than in marriages of straight couples and gay men. This post unpacks the dangers of this mis-information and

Everyone gets “fatherlessness” wrong
Advocates in all kinds of movements — equal parenting, pro-marriage, conservative and feminist — cite federal “fatherless” figures to support their endeavors.
The problem? Those numbers are baloney.
Just because those 22 million children live primarily with their mom does not mean that they are not also cared for by their dad. Increasingly, those parents split parenting responsibilities and time 50/50. Yet just one parent is counted as the caregiver for national and state records, erasing fathers.

Equal parenting in the news
Digest of mainstream media that paid some attention to equal parenting.

Celebrities who share parenting 50/50
More every week! One celebrity 50/50 divorce headline in InTouch Weekly does more to move the needle than 10,000 of lobbying for an equal parenting law.

Latest research on equal parenting, divorce, parental alienation
Hub for your reference.

Please consider this a community effort. Send along new research, policy updates, story ideas, events to publish. I am also open to guest posts and promoting social media accounts. Again:

Feel free to use any of this information as your own. Again:

It is astonishing what we can accomplish if you don’t care who gets credit.

See you at Best Interest.