Summary

This report, supported by the Nuffield Foundation, looked at how families manage the arrangements for children to spend time with their non-resident parents, and the kinds of difficulties which families encounter in these arrangements.

The majority of children in separated families were in touch with both their parents and, even where problems arose, there was clear agreement from both parents that contact or shared care was important for children.

However, many separated parents encounter problems in contact or shared care arrangements. Having contact and the frequency of contact or shared care was affected by factors such as parental relationships and the length of time since separation. Furthermore, arrangements often changed over time, with a decrease in contact more common than an increase.