Family law evaluation project 1996 - January 1996

Acknowledgments iv

Synopsis vii

Chapter 1: Family law and attitudes to parental responsibility 1

Chapter 2: Design, samples and procedures 8

Chapter 3: Attitudes of the general population sample 21

Chapter 4: Divorced parents' attitudes to parental responsibilities 32

Chapter 5: What divorced parents do for children 42

Chapter 6: Meanings: custody, access and children's rights 52

Acknowledgments 

This report was commissioned by the Commonwealth Attorney General's Department and carried out by the Australian Institute of Family Studies. The content and design of the study were developed in consultation with a steering committee drawn from organisations with broad experience and knowledge in family law and related professions.

The steering committee met at the Australian Institute of Family Studies in February, 1995 and drafted the general terms of reference for the study. Members of that committee subsequently read and commented on draft contents and the design of the study through all phases of its development. The report was improved by the committee's guidance, and their generous assistance is gratefully acknowledged. Any defects remain, however, the responsibility of the first author.

The members of the Steering Committee were:

Dr Carole Brown
Principal Director of Court Counselling,
Family Court of Australia

Ms Sarah Byrnes
Project Director
The Roy Morgan Research Centre Pty. Ltd.

Dr Kate Funder
Principal Research Fellow
Australian Institute of Family Studies

Ms Margaret Harrison
Senior Associate of the Chief Judge
The Family Court of Australia

Mr Michael Hunt
Director of Mediation Services
Relationships Australia

Mr Richard Morgan
Senior Government Counsel
Family and Administrative Law Branch
Attorney General's Department

Mr Michael Taussig
Chairman
Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia

Ms Ilene Wolcott
Senior Research Fellow
Australian Institute of Family Studies

Comments on the study were sought from:

Ms Dale Bagshaw
Chair
Family Services Council

Dr Margaret Browne
Acting First Assistant Secretary
Legal Aid and Family Services Division,
Attorney General's Department

Ms Susan Gribben
Victorian Director
Relationships Australia

Ms Diana Downs-Stoney
Manager
Family Mediation Service,
Relationships Australia (WA)

Mr Justice John Faulks
Chairman
Family Law Council

Mr John McKnight
Acting Director
Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission

Mr John Nieuwenhuysen
Director
Bureau of Population & Immigration Research
Parents Without Partners Inc (Vic)

Ms Kathleen Townsend
First Assistant Secretary
Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Office of the Status of Women

Mr Graeme Quinlivan
Director
Legal Aid Office (Brisbane)

Synopsis

This study provides a national benchmark on attitudes to parental responsibility against which comparisons can be made in subsequent years after the introduction of the Family Law Reform Act (1995), Part VII - Children. Comparisons between the attitudes and behaviours associated with parenting before and after the commencement of the Family Law Reform Act (1995) will form part of a broader evaluation of the impact of the legislation.

The study was commissioned by the Commonwealth Attorney General's Department and executed by the Australian Institute of Family Studies.

Data were obtained from a general population sample comprising 1,246 persons aged 18 years and over.

Further data came from a national sample of 495 divorced parents of dependent children who separated after January, 1988.

Attitudes of the general population sample

The study shows that Australians have solid, homogeneous views on a set of 'core' parental responsibilities. These core responsibilities are:

to provide love and emotional support,

to teach children right from wrong,

to look after their children's education.

There is some variation among demographic groups in their views of the importance of parents' maintaining contact with relatives and providing children with access to sports, clubs and hobbies. Lower socio-economic status is associated with attributing higher importance to these parental responsibilities. Women place somewhat more emphasis than men on the responsibility for ties with relatives, and younger respondents see this as less important than older members of the sample.

Virtually no-one perceives any of the listed responsibilities as not very important, or not at all important.

Men and women who have ever experienced divorce and their never-divorced counterparts have very similar assent to core parental responsibilities.

By implication, parents who are unable or unwilling to fulfil the responsibilities listed above may be expected to feel that their role as parent is in jeopardy.

The Family Law Reform Act (1995), Part VII - Children, makes assumptions that parental responsibilities continue uninterrupted by divorce. These findings suggest that the attitudes of Australians are largely in tune with that assumption.

Part VII - Children S 60(2)a states that: 'children have the right to know and be cared for by both their parents, regardless of whether their parents are married, separated, have never married, or have never lived together'.

Attitudes in the general population, and among divorced respondents indicate strong support for such parental involvement for the care, contact and financial support of children.

There is a gradation in assent for sharing these responsibilities. From strongest support for sharing responsibilities to the weakest, the gradations were: (i) married parents, (ii) parents who have never married, (iii) separated and divorced parents, and (iv) parents who have never lived together.

Respondents who have themselves been divorced largely share the views of their non-divorced counterparts. Minor exceptions to this general picture were noted for men only. These indicate that ever-divorced men have stronger positive views on sharing some responsibilities than do never-divorced men.

It seems that Australians generally see parental responsibilities as generic. They do not, however, have the same degree of assent to parental responsibility across all marital and relationship conditions as is perhaps implied in S 60(2)a of the Family Law Reform Act (1995).

Divorced parents' attitudes to parental responsibilities

Australians - never-divorced and ever-divorced, and parents divorced under the provisions of the Family Law Act (1975) in the last eight years - share a common understanding of parental responsibilities.

The differences observed between the general population sample and the divorced sample are minor, although they may point to some areas in which sensitivity is required.

The core set of responsibilities comprises the responsibility of parents to provide love and emotional support, to teach children right from wrong and to look after their children's education.

The roles of maintaining links with kin and involving children in social activities receive less total endorsement, although women generally, and divorced women in particular, are more supportive of this role.

Sharing responsibility for the financial support of children is typically seen as 'sometimes' appropriate in all marital and relationship circumstances, with less of a gradient observable between views on the responsibilities of married parents, separated or divorced parents, those who have never married, or those who never lived together.

Paying for the children is seen in a fairly constant light in both general and divorced samples; most respondents think financial responsibility for children should be shared.

The study does not go beyond attitudes, but one may speculate that the conditional assent to financial support being shared is underpinned by factors such as perceived capacity to pay, needs of the child, relationship with the child, an expressio n of role division between parents and perhaps also the quality of the relationship between parents.

Resident and non-resident parents, both male and female, share very similar views of the 'core' responsibilities of parents examined in the study. They also share very much the same views of the responsibilities of parents - whether married, separated or divorced, never married or never having lived together - for sharing the care, contact and financial support of children.

The different experiences of divorced women and men divorced in the eight years preceding the commencement of the reform do not appear to alter their attitudes to the responsibilities set out in Part VII - Children of the Family Law Reform Act (1995).

Parental behaviour of divorced parents

Divorced men, whether resident or non-resident parents, consider 'core' parental responsibilities to be important. They think generally that care, contact and financial responsibilities should be shared. Divorced men also report that they actually do share these responsibilities, and more so if they are resident with their child than if they live apart.

Divorced women consider core responsibilities to be important and think that responsibilities for care, contact and financial support should mostly be shared. Women perceive themselves, however, to take most of the responsibility for those functions, whether or not they live with the child or apart.

The net result is a picture of relative concordance in attitudes and behaviours among men; they do as they say. The picture for women is one of considerable dissonance; they perceive themselves as taking most of the responsibilities they think are important, but that they think (for the most part) should be shared.

If the family law reforms are to create conditions for more cooperative ongoing parenting, attention is required to these areas of mismatch. Clearly they provide, or reflect, a potential source of discontent.

The meaning of custody and access

The terms 'custody' and 'access' are generally seen as embracing a set of core responsibilities; there is thus considerable shared meaning in these terms.

This finding is consistent with the concept of ongoing responsibility for children expressed by resident and non-resident parents.

Some aspects of parental responsibilities are seen as less central to access than to custody.

The terms custody and access tend to imply total responsibility in the minds of women and shared responsibility in the minds of men.

This mismatch of meaning may exacerbate disputes and explain some of the poor communication about shared responsibility. It also illuminates the very different counting of time, effort and costs associated with children by resident and non-resident parents.

Contributions to children's support in terms of time, labour and money are the basis of assessing fairness in child support arrangements. Mismatched perceptions described in this study require further investigation in order to understand better their source, and to seek their remedies.

Ownership of children

A proposition that parents own their children is soundly rejected by the vast majority of the general population sample and the divorced sample.

As Australian men and women in both national samples firmly reject the notion of ownership of children, it would seem that the Family Law Reform Act (1995) is in accord with public opinion when it changes terminology such as 'custody' and 'access' which traditionally carry overtones of ownership.

Children's rights

Both the general population sample and the divorced sample firmly reject the notion that children should have some more, or a lot more, rights.

Since children's rights undergird much of the Family Law Reform Act (1995) and such initiatives are a basis for the appointment of children's representatives, it seems important that the public be well informed on the principles of children's rights lest parents see such initiatives as a threat to their status as parents.

Chapter 1 Family law and attitudes to parental responsibility

Structure of the report

This report is presented in two parts. Part One comprises the results of national surveys on parental responsibility, and discussion of the implications of these findings for family law and social policy. Part Two contains the data tables, each with a short written summary. The results presented in Part One are all cross-referenced to tables in Part Two. This division of the report into two parts has been made for the convenience of readers with different interests. Some readers may wish to read the summary and main report without the interruption of the tables; reference to tables of particular interest, however, can be made easily as required.

The tables may also be used to inform policy issues which are not the primary focus of this report, and as such they constitute a unique resource, since no such national data exist on many of the issues covered.

Background to the project

The Family Law Reform Act (1995) is an important piece of social legislation intended to change concepts about parental responsibility after separation and to affect parental behaviour by increasing cooperative parenting. Changes in terminology and procedures relating to parental responsibilities are based on assumptions about the welfare of all children and hence the Act may extend its influence beyond families affected by divorce.

The Reform Act had its origins in widely expressed concerns that custody and access provisions of the Family Law Act (1975) encouraged a mind set among parents which disposed them to see themselves as 'winners' or 'losers'. The more extreme manisfestations of the winner/loser mentality were the subject of inquiry in the Australian Law Reform Commission's report For the Sake of the Kids: Complex Contact Cases and the Family Court (ALRC, 1995). Notions of ownership and exclusive control of children appear to underpin many intractable disputes over children and the reforms attempt to remove concepts which suggest parental rights and powers (ALRC, 1995, p.6). At least the adversarial system and its language were perceived to result in parenting arrangements which were in their nature not cooperative (Family Law Council, 1987), and in a later report, Patterns of Parenting After Separation, the Family Law Council (1992) concluded that cooperative parenting after separation was a desirable goal which could be enhanced by the use of terminology which discouraged ideas of ownership of children, and by procedures which emphasised flexible planning and minimised dispute.

The premise for advocating change (Family Law Council, 1992) was that most children want and need contact with both parents, and that the well-being of children is advanced by their maintaining links with both parents over time (p 1). The Council considered that the law must change to achieve these goals. These conclusions formed the bases of recommendations to the Attorney General that, inter alia, new, non-proprietorial terminology be introduced. All separating parents were to be given information about and encouraged to make parenting plans which would allow parents freely to decide the level of responsibility they intended to adopt for their children after separation. Another of the Family Law Council recommendations was that there be an effective education program designed to focus on the task of parenting after separation.

Much of the intention and spirit of the Family Law Council conclusions and recommendations have informed the Family Law Reform Act (1995). In addition, the Family Law Council at its December, 1994 meeting discussed the nature of the widespread changes envisaged in the reforms and the need for evaluation of the impact of the (then) Family Law Reform Bill (1994). The need for evaluation was proposed in order, ideally, to monitor the intended and unintended effects of the legislation on parents and children in the short- and longer- term. It was also seen as advantageous that the Family Court of Australia and the family law professions have feed-back on the operation of the reforms in order to fine-tune services and procedures. In later discussions it was also proposed that feedback on community understanding about parental responsibilities would enable well-targeted information and education strategies to be planned.

The Commonwealth Attorney General's Department assumed responsibility for an initial benchmark study of community attitudes to parental responsibilities before the introduction of the Act. In fact, two benchmarks were sought as points of comparison against which to assess the impact of the Act. The first was the standard on parental responsibility held in the general Australian community for parental responsibilities. The second was the standard for parental responsibility held by parents who were themselves divorced under the recent regulations of the Family Law Act (1975). The two studies were carried out for the Attorney General's Department by the Australian Institute of Family Studies and are the subject of this report.

Purpose of the research project

At the heart of this project is the necessity to evaluate the impact of Part VII - Children of the Family Law Reform Act (1995). This section of the Act describes parental responsibilities and children's rights under family law which apply to separated, divorced, de facto couples and parents who have never lived together. A first plank in such an evaluation is a comparison of community attitudes to parental responsibility, under the various conditions obtaining before the commencement of the new law, and afterwards under the new provisions.

Attitudes to parental responsibility are of general interest not only as a barometer of social mores but also because laws applying to parenting must have reasonably wide public acceptance for compliance and effectiveness. Other laws and policies concerning parental responsibility (including child support and social security provisions) similarly rely on public acceptance for their effectiveness. Thus insights gained in the course of evaluating the impact of family law provisions may have more general application in the wider fields of child and family policy.

The first step in this research project required the acquisition of representative and valid responses to questions from which the opinions of the Australian public can be gauged. Such information is necessary to establish what are the current social norms, and the relationship between these norms and implementation of law and policies. There are currently no comprehensive national data on this subject which can provide a sound basis for proposing and implementing law reform.

Part VII - Children. The particular event which stimulated this project was the reform to family law contained in the Family Law Reform Act (1995) Part VII - Children. The objects and principles of Part VII are set out in Section 60B of the Act:

Implied in statements of children's rights (for example, to know and be cared for by their parents) are reciprocal obligations of parents to make these conditions possible for children. Section 61B of the reform act defines parental responsibility in relation to the child as: 'all the duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law parents have in relation to children' (p. 26).

Key questions. The Family Law Reform Act (1995) is to commence in June 1996. Knowledge of public attitudes to parental responsibility is important when reforms are introduced for several reasons, particularly when the reform is based upon a new philosophical stance in terms of parental responsibility and children's rights. Public opinion is particularly pertinent in the area of parental responsibility which is likely to be controversial in family law which specifies the responsibilities of parents after separation and divorce. A second question in this regard is whether separation and divorce change the general notion of what constitutes parental responsibilities, in comparison with parents who are married and living together, or in comparison with the Australian public at large.

A third question concerns the responsibilities of parents who are in de facto unions, or parents who have never lived with their children. Since family law relating to parental responsibility includes in its objectives the care and welfare of children 'regardless of whether their parents are married, separated, have never married or have never lived together' (S 60B,2 a), and since Child Support legislation assumes financial obligation regardless of the parents' marital or relationship status, it is important to know the extent of public assent to parental responsibility under the various conditions of parenting.

Answers to these questions provide a yardstick for measuring the extent to which responsibilities are accepted as universal, as is assumed in some laws and policies, or the extent to which responsibilities are perceived at least to some extent, as conditional on the marital or relationship circumstances of the parent. It is possible that changes to family law may have flow-on effects in terms of framing other child and family policies, and thus knowledge of public attitudes to parental responsibility for children may have application well beyond the evaluation of reforms set out in Part VII of the Family Law Reform Act (1995).

Interpreting change. The effect of the new law can only be assessed after it has been in operation for a certain time. However, to be able to form a judgement about the extent to which attitudes are specific to the new regulations requires a point of comparison with the old law. Although the objective of this first project is thus to provide baseline information for later comparisons, it is also of both intrinsic and immediate practical interest to know what the community thinks about parental responsibility.

Second, the point of law reform is to some extent to change conditions, and to some extent to reflect and be consistent with changing social conditions (Fine & Fine, 1994). In the case of family law three possibilities exist. First, the law may reflect changes in public opinion and behaviour, and reform brings the law into line with already changed mores. Second, the law may be designed to lead public opinion towards acceptance of new directions of parenting practice, for example, directions of practice implied and stated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to which Australia is a party. The third and more probable situation is that both apply. Attitudes and values in most areas are diverse in any society, and likely to be more diverse in a multi-cultural, pluralist society such as Australia. In particular, attitudes and values in the areas of family life, parenting and children are arguably among those most resistant to change. In a period of rapid social change (as reflected, for example, in the many revisions to the Family Law Act (1975) over its twenty-year history) differences in degrees of acceptance across groups in the community will vary. Rapid changes in family formation and dissolution patterns accentuate differences in experience across age groups in the community. The older generation experienced the almost universal marriage rate and low divorce rate of the 1950's and subsequent cohorts have become more familiar with later marriage, deferred child bearing and a higher divorce rate (McDonald, 1995). Since these changes may be unevenly spread throughout regions and city and country areas, the degree of diversity in attitudes may be considerable.

Diversity in community experience, attitudes and values creates a situation in which reforms are in advance of attitudes and practice for some groups, keeping pace with those of other groups, and perhaps well behind changes in other sections of society. In such a context, there is particular point in having benchmark data on attitudes to parental responsibility. Such data can show the areas in which there is general agreement on the responsibilities of parents; they can also identify areas in which there is divergence, and detail some of the characteristics of those divergent groups. This knowledge is important for a complex of reasons - for public education, for appropriate sensitivity in the professions associated with family law, and for assuring provision and access to appropriate services (in the Court and elsewhere) for groups with demographic and value differences. In addition, family law reform seems inevitably to be followed by calls for further review, particularly by groups who feel that the law does not treat them justly, or inadequately protects their children. It is thus rare and very useful to have national data against which to measure the generality and validity of such demands. Conversely, by careful analysis of the characteristics of the groups, effective solutions may be found by targeting particular information and services, or by further law reform.

The divorced population. As well as having benchmark data on Australia as a whole, it is also important to have a similar benchmark for groups who come under the aegis of the law - separated, divorced parents and de facto couples with children. It is the lives of divorced parents, and de facto couples and their children, which are directly affected by family law regulations, and it is past cohorts of these parents who have experienced the current law in operation. It is thus important to have reports from this group of affected people, so that their attitudes to parental responsibility can be compared with those of the general population and with future cohorts who experience the new regulations.

In addition, since separation and divorce are part of a longer transition producing a variety of family circumstances, it is necessary to examine the attitudes of significant subgroups. The most obvious of these are divorced women and men who reside largely with their children and those who largely reside apart.

All the above questions can be answered only by reliable national data. These questions become very pertinent in the context of criticism of the law and its effectiveness to improve the lot of children and parents and possible future calls for reform. It is rare for inquiries into family law to have access to representative soundings of public assent to substantive issues, and much more common for such inquiries to hear from groups and individuals advocating particular positions.

Summary

This project is designed to provide benchmark data on public attitudes to parental responsibility in Australia immediately before the commencement of the Family Law Reform Act (1995). The project is also directed to providing the same data on attitudes to parental responsibility for a nationally representative sample of people who were divorced under the Act as it applied between January 1988 and December 1995. Diversity of attitudes in the community is explored in relation to age, marital status, state of residence, household income and level of education. These data provide the basis of comparisons which will be made with attitudes to parental responsibility in the years following the commencement of the Family Law Reform Act (1995). These comparisons will permit inferences to be made about the impact of the Act on attitudes to parental responsibility.

Chapter 2 Design, samples and procedures 

Background

In February, 1995 the Commonwealth Attorney General's Department commissioned the Australian Institute of Family Studies to begin an evaluation of the impact of the Family Law Reform Act (1995), Part VII - Children. The Family Law Reform Bill (1994) proposed important new emphases on parental responsibility, including a rejection of concepts of parental rights implicit in family law litigation and a renewed emphasis on the priority of children's rights.

Although the Act was at that time in the form of a Bill before Parliament, it was proposed that the process of evaluation should commence before the Bill was enacted. Such a timeline was considered essential to establish a baseline of community attitudes and values immediately before the reforms were introduced, against which the impact of the Act could be measured.

As there are no current national data on attitudes to parental responsibility, nor any such attitudinal information for parents who have experienced divorce, it is clearly necessary to collect these background data. Knowing what Australians think about parental responsibility is considered to have intrinsic value in many fields of family and child policy, in addition to a point of comparison for changes after the implementation of the Act.

The design of the total evaluation process (of which the work reported here is the first part) is a repeated-measures study of the impact of Part VII - Children on attitudes to parental responsibility as set out or implied in Section 60B. In essence, the commission given to the Australian Institute of Family Studies was to design and execute the first part of a two or three part study of the impact of a major family law reform on the attitudes and values of the community.

The design, samples and methods were developed in the general context of a two or three part evaluation over time. In practice the design allows for the repeated measurement of attitudes on three cohorts of people: a pre-reform cohort; a cohort in the short-term, 2-3 years after the reform, and a cohort in the longer-term, approximately 5 years post reform.

At a more general level of interest, this project addresses a topic on which there is relatively little Australian or international information. There is a growing body of literature examining the ways in which parents understand financial responsibility, and especially the case of the non-resident parent after marital dissolution (Coleman & Ganong, 1992; Ganong et al., 1995; Seltzer, 1989; Seltzer, 1994). In contrast, however, there has been very little research on normative standards in the area of parental responsibilities in general, nor standards for such responsibilities after separation or divorce in particular. The main objectives of the project were thus to understand how Australians in general, and in particular Australian parents who have been through divorce, view the area of parental responsibilities.

Concepts and development

At the outset of the project a Steering Committee was convened by the Australian Institute of Family Studies and chaired by Mr. Richard Morgan, Senior Government Counsel in the Family and Administrative Law Branch of the Attorney General's Department. This committee met at the Australian Institute of Family Studies in February, 1995. The committee drew on the experience of a range of individuals and organisations with expertise in family law, family services and survey design. Among those organisations represented on the committee were: the Family Court of Australia, the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia, Relationships Australia, Family Court Counselling, the Australian Institute of Family Studies and Roy Morgan Research.

Consultations extended beyond the committee to other organisations including the Legal Aid and Family Services Branch of Attorney General's Department, the Family Services Council, the Family Law Council, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, the Office of the Status of Women and other bodies including support groups and research organisations. The quality of the project owes much to the Steering Committee and consultants, whose breadth of experience helped to compensate for the paucity of research available to inform the content, design and methodology of the project.

During the developmental phase of the study, the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) liaised extensively with the steering committee, the Attorney General's Department, and Roy Morgan Research. After the initial steering committee meeting and the subsequent round of consultations, the committee received for comment drafts of the contents of the study, the design, samples and survey approach proposed. The steering committee thus determined the main parameters of the project, the identification of priorities, and the general approaches to be employed.

The AIFS and Roy Morgan Research refined the interview schedule to accommodate the various survey requirements and then finalised the screening instrument to identify the exact populations to be sampled. The general population sample of Australians over the age of 18 was recruited from the standard Morgan weekly household survey; the divorced sample was recruited similarly to ensure that both samples were as nationally representative as possible. The final version of the general population survey was pilot tested by Roy Morgan Research on a sample of 21 Melbourne respondents; for the divorced sample, a 'rolling' pilot format (in which the interview process and its outcome data were scrutinised closely and adjustments made) was adopted, since much of the larger part of the survey had been trialled on the general population sample.

Samples

Two national populations were sampled for the project. The first comprised all Australian households with telephones, stratified by State and Territory, capital cities and rural area, sex and (for the general population sample) age. This population is used by Roy Morgan Research to provide samples for their regular omnibus household surveys, and samples thus drawn are representative of a large proportion of Australian households. An advantage of operating within an established survey is that the samples at different points in time will be as similar as possible and thus permit reliable comparisons between cohorts before and after the implementation of the amendments to the Family Law Reform Act (1995).

The resulting sample comprised 1,246 persons aged 18 years and over. A random, stratified sample produced approximately equal numbers of women and men from all Australian states and territories including city and rural areas. For convenience throughout the project this sample is referred to in the text as the general population sample or in the tables as the general sample.

The second population was that of divorced parents who had divorced under the regulations of the Family Law Act (1975) in recent years. In practice this population was defined as married and divorced with a dependent child at the time of separation, and having separated after January, 1988. The second sample, derived from the divorced population, comprised 495 parents who had experienced divorce under relatively recent conditions of the Family Law Act (1975) and who had dependent children at the time of separation. The specific criteria used to define this sample were parents who were divorced under Australian law, were separated after January 1988, and who had a child under 18 years of age at the time of separation. This sample is referred to as the divorced parent sample for the remainder of this report.

The post-January 1988 period was specified to correspond with the introduction of the Child Support Scheme in Australia. The introduction of this scheme is believed to mark a critical juncture in Australian family law relating to parents' financial responsibilities for children.

Sampling strategy. Respondents for both surveys were randomly selected from the Australian 1994 Telstra electronic White Pages. This database lists Australian residential telephone numbers. To enhance the representativeness of the samples, quotas were placed on three demographic elements: age, sex and place of residence (state/territory and city/rural). No age quotas were used with the divorced sample in order to maximise the sample size for this 'specialised' pop ulation. Quotas were allocated according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) September 1995 population statistics, which were based on quarterly benchmark projections from the 1991 ABS Population Census figures.

In addition, a restriction was made on the inclusion of a second divorced household member in the sample. Theoretically, if two divorced people shared the same household, both could have been interviewed separately - thus saving time and money in trying to locate the divorced cases. Despite the methodological attractiveness of 'switching' between divorced respondents, we decided to avoid this form of sampling to ensure true randomness in the sample, and to avoid contaminated responses from one person overhearing or discussing the issues with the other.

Attrition of cases and final sample numbers. Table 2.1 (which is presented in Part Two of this report) details the attrition of cases and final sample numbers for the two surveys. For the general population sample, a total of 6,201 calls were made. Of potential respondents 39 per cent (2,419) were uncontactable. This noncontact rate accords with similar rates reported elsewhere (Frey, 1983, p. 43).

In addition, 26 per cent (1,620) of potential respondents refused to participate in an interview. Since these respondents terminated prior to the screening questions, there was no way of determining whether or not they were 'in-scope'. Thus while this rate can not be interpreted as a refusal rate per se, it does nonetheless accord with similar rates for telephone interviews reported by Frey (1983). Finally, in a small number of instances, potential respondents were out of range of the sample specifications (13%), terminated mid-interview or were uncontactable for uncommon reasons (2%). Consequently, a total of 1,246 interviews were completed for the general population sample. This comprised 20 per cent of the calls made and 33 per cent of those who were contacted. This response rate is consistent with that in other telephone household surveys (Roy Morgan Research, 1995) and with that reported in the general literature (Bailey, 1982, p. 177).

For the divorced parent sample, a total of 36,512 calls were made. Potential respondents were uncontactable in 30 per cent (10,788) of these. Further, 20 per cent (7,144) of potential respondents refused to participate at the start of the interview. This result is consistent with other telephone interviews (Roy Morgan Research, 1995). In 48 per cent (17,656) of all calls made potential respondents were out of range of the sample specifications. Finally, one per cent of respondents terminated mid-interview, or were uncontactable for uncommon reasons. Consequently, a total of 495 interviews were completed for the divorced parent sample. This comprised one per cent of the calls made and two per cent of those who were contacted.

This survey of a very specialised population of relatively recently divorced parents is unique and it is thus difficult to make estimates of the true percentage of Australian households containing a person matching the sample characteristics. As it was not possible to determine what percentage of refusals at the beginning of the interview were within scope (but this will be a very low percentage given the final result), no accurate response rate could be calculated. However, a priori, we have no reason to think that the response rate in this sample could be radically different from that in the general population sample. The range of respondents is an indication that diversity within this group can be explored.

Data collection

The research design sought to address several important considerations. First, given the difficulty associated with obtaining representative samples of divorced people meeting specific criteria (Funder, 1986), a method was needed that would maximise accessing such a sample.

Second, because of imminent enactment of the Family Law Reform Bill (1994) and the need by the Attorney General's Department to have a benchmark of standards about parental responsibility prior to the this enactment, an expeditious data collection technique was required. Finally, a relatively cost efficient method was needed. On the basis of these considerations, a random nationwide survey using the Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) technique was chosen.

CATI offers a number of practical benefits, including substantial cost efficiencies (especially with regard to sampling 'specialised' populations); a relatively fast turn around from data collection to readiness for analysis; good flexibility in question manipulation (eg., screens and filter questions); and a relatively high response rate (Roy Morgan Research, 1995; Neuman, 1994). CATI also affords excellent data integrity since all interviewers are supervised (allowing feedback, support and cross-checks) and the CATI software ensures correct question sequencing and accurate data entry due to its internal logic and verification processes.

Like all other data collection methodologies, however, CATI has its shortcomings. One commonly mentioned weakness is the potential for sample bias, which may occur because not everyone is accessible by telephone (Neuman, 1994). In Australia, about 5.6 percent of people do not have phones (ABS, 1991), commonly because they cannot afford them (ABS, 1983) and another 10 percent have silent or unlisted telephone numbers (Roy Morgan Research, 1995). Thus the omission of certain groups of people in the population available through telephone surveys sets limits on the generalisations which can be made from the data to the Australian population at large. Despite its imperfections, telephone surveys probably offer the most user-friendly and efficient approaches for a national survey. They are reported to have high reliability and to yield high quality information.

The AIFS sub-contracted Roy Morgan Research to collect the required data sets using the CATI technique. Aside from extensive expertise and experience with this technique, Roy Morgan Research also has CATI facilities and trained interviewers in all states and territories of Australia thus enabling it to complete this type of fieldwork quickly, accurately and economically.

Interviewing procedures. Interviews for the six Australian states were conducted between November 10 and November 26, 1995; interviews for the two territories were conducted between January 8 and January 12, 1996. The timing of these collection periods was a function of logistical, rather than conceptual, considerations - though care was taken to avoid collecting data over the Christmas break to minimise the potential for temporal sampling bias (Moser & Kalton, 1971).

Survey content - attitudes

The survey for the Australian public sample comprised five parts:

demographic information on the respondents;

general attitudes to parental responsibilities;

attitudes to parental responsibilities under different conditions of the parent's marital or relationship status - married, separated or divorced, never married and never lived together;

Demographic description of the samples. In order to test the uniformity of views in the two samples, demographic information was collected. This information was then used to explore questions of whether age, sex, income, household type/family composition etc. influenced the attitudes people hold about parental responsibility. The demographic variables were: age, sex, place of residence, highest level of education, marital status (including whether previously divorced), employment status, current household total annual income, the number of children aged under 18 years living with the respondent, the relationship of the respondent to each child, and the age of each child.

General attitudes to parental responsibilities. The first part of the survey contained six questions which addressed people's understanding of parental responsibilities. These questions were derived predominantly from categories of responsibilities described in Section 60B and Section 64 of the Family Law Reform Bill (1994). Each question began: "How important do you think it is for parents to take responsibility for their children by: ...?". The six parental responsibilities were:

Each item response was rated on a 5-point scale (where 1 = very important, 2 = fairly important, 3 = neither important nor unimportant, 4 = not very important, 5= not at all important). (To aid comprehension of this scale over the telephone, and to minimise 'fence sitting', respondents were initially asked: "Is it important or unimportant?" and then asked the degree of importance or unimportance.) In order to control for order effects, items relating to attitudes and meaning were randomly rotated within each section relating to attitudes.

Marital and relationship conditions. The second part of the survey contained three questions which addressed the respondents' understanding of parental responsibilities under four marital and relationship conditions: when parents are (1) married, (2) separated or divorced, (3) have never been married, or (4) have never lived together. There were thus 12 questions in all.

Questions were derived from content related to children's rights described in Section 64B(2) and Section 60B(2) of the Family Law Reform Bill (1994). The four marital and relationship conditions of the parents represented the ambit of the law contained in Section 60B (2)(a).

Each item began: "Do you think that when parents are married (or: are separated or divorced; have never been married; have never lived together): ...?".

The three parental responsibilities were:

Each item was rated on a 5-point scale (where 1 = always, 2 = mostly, 3 = sometimes, 4 = rarely, 5= never).

Language and concepts: 'custody' and 'access'. The third part of the survey examined individuals' understanding of two key terms in the Family Law Act (1975) defining parental responsibilities and rights - 'custody' and 'access'. These terms are removed from the Family Law Reform Act (1995) and it is postulated that their removal will pave the way for a diminution of parents' insistence on parental rights and the ownership of children.

To explore the meanings attached to these terms, two series of questions were asked. One series examined notions of 'custody', the other, notions of 'access'.

The phrasing of the questions on 'custody' were as follows: "Which one of these three statements do you think best describes the meaning of custody?" Five domains were explored, each with three response options:

(exclusive/shared/no ownership)

(full/shared/no control)

(full/shared/no responsibility)

(full/shared/no responsibility)

(full/shared/no responsibility)

In the second series of questions, the word 'custody' was replaced with the word 'access'. The same response format used for custody was then used to examine respondents' understanding of the meaning of access.

Children's rights. To explore public attitudes to 'children's rights' which are protected under Section 60B of the Family Law Reform Act (1995), (which in turn is informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) the fourth part of the survey contained two summary questions designed to test public feeling about children's rights. The first question examined parental rights related to the notion of ownership.

The question read: "Some people think that parents own their children. Do you agree or disagree with that?" The question was rated on a 5-point scale (1 = strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree).

The second question examined normative standards about the extent of children's rights. It read: "Do you think that children should have more rights or less rights than they have now?" The question was rated on a 5-point scale (1 = a lot more to 5 = a lot less).

The divorced parents' survey

The content for the divorced parents group survey was identical to that of the Australian general population survey with three additions. First, a series of five screening questions included at the beginning of the survey identified respondents who met the specified criteria. These questions identified the divorced sample as:

Second, questions on parental behaviours were matched to the six attitude questions asked of both samples and listed below. The purpose of these questions was to explore the actual responsibilities, matched to the list of attitudes, the divorced group had for children. Respondents in the divorced sample were asked: 'How much responsibility do you personally take for?:

The divorced sample were asked if they took: (1) total responsibility, (2) most responsibility, (3) some responsibility, (4) not very much responsibility, (5) no responsibility.

Third, divorced parents were asked questions to identify them as resident or non-resident parents. To do this they were asked how many children they had from previous and current unions, whether any children from those unions or marriages currently lived with them, and if so, which ones. In this way the current family composition of the divorced sample could be ascertained.

Demographic profile of respondents

Profiles of the two samples are presented in this section. There is no expectation that the general population sample and the specialised divorce sample will have identical profiles since they were selected on different criteria. Both, however, were selected on a national grid.

General population sample. Of the 1,246 respondents in the general population sample, 632 were female and 614 were male (51% v. 49%). They ranged in age from 18 to 90 years (M = 43 years, SD = 16 years). About one-third (34%) of respondents lived in New South Wales; one-quarter (25%) lived in Victoria; almost one-fifth (18%) resided in Queensland; and increasingly smaller percentages lived in Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory (10%, 9%, 3%, 2%, 1%).

The modal household income category (17 per cent of respondents were in this category) was $30,000 to $39,999 with the majority (73%) of respondents living in households with combined annual incomes less than $60,000. About one-quarter (26%) of the sample had completed a degree or diploma; a similar proportion (26%) had some tertiary training or had completed Year 12 or a TAFE course; about one-third (32%) had completed Year 10 or 11; and a smaller percentage (15%) reported some primary or secondary school education or technical/commercial training as their highest level of education. About half (47%) the respondents were employed full-time, over one-third (38%) were not employed, and a smaller percentage (15%) were employed part-time.

These broad demographic trends for the general population sample were similar for both females and males, although females were more likely than males not to be employed (49% v. 27%) and to come from a lower modal household income category ($20,000-$29,999 v. $30,000-$39,999 p.a.).

Divorced parent sample. Of the 495 respondents in the divorced parent sample, 266 were female and 229 were male (54% v. 46%). They ranged in age from 22 to 76 years (M = 43 years, SD = 8 years). About one-third (31%) of respondents lived in Victoria; over one-quarter (26%) lived in New South Wales; almost one-fifth (19%) resided in Queensland; and increasingly smaller percentages lived in South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory (10%, 10%, 3%, 2%, 1%). The higher proportion of Victorians in the divorced sample derives from an over-sampling in rural Victoria. As the divorced sample was very expensive to collect, and no significant urban-rural differences were found, all cases were included.

The modal household income category (20 per cent of respondents were in this category) was $10,000 to $19,999 with the majority (73%) of respondents living in households with incomes less than $50,000. One-quarter (25%) of the sample had completed a degree or diploma; a similar proportion (26%) had some tertiary training or had completed Year 12 or a TAFE course; about one-third (35%) had completed Year 10 or 11; and a smaller percentage (14%) reported some primary or secondary school education or technical/commercial training as their highest level of education. Over half (58%) the respondents were employed full-time, one-quarter (25%) were not employed, and a smaller percentage (17%) were employed part-time.

These general demographic trends for the divorced parent sample were similar for both females and males - although males were more likely than females to be employed full-time (78% v. 40%) and to come from a lower modal household income category ($20,000-$29,999 v. $10,000-$19,999 p.a.).

Technical note

In seeking to assess the extent to which groups differed significantly on attitudes to parental responsibilities, Bonferroni's correction was used to determine the alpha ( ) level. (This correction adjusts for the increased likelihood of finding a difference when no such difference exists - technically termed Type I error - when computing a large number of tests.) On the basis of this correction, the alpha value was set at p .002.

The trade-off for this conservative tack, however, is a loss of power (in which differences may be present but not detected - termed Type II error). In some cases, close inspection of the data showed a consistent pattern which was significant at the p .01 level. On the basis of this consistency these results were accepted.

Conversely, it should also be noted that even at the p .002 level tiny differences between males and females were occassionly statistically significant. These results appear to be a function of (a) little variability in response patterns (specifically, a ceiling effect around the 'very important' rating) - this also often results in a large number of cells with expected frequencies below 5 which corrupt Chi-squared tests of significance; and (b) a relatively large sample (ie., over 1200 cases). Consequently, very small differences tend to be significant and caution must be exercised in interpreting their meaning (see Tabachnick & Fidell, 1989, p.37 for an excellent discussion of the effects of too much power and 'minimal meaningful' significant differences).

Chapter 3 Attitudes of the general population sample

Introduction

Responsibility for the care, welfare, financial support and protection of children is largely shared, between parents on the one hand and the state through its laws and policies on the other. Although a public/private division of these responsibilities is an oversimplification, it brings into focus the importance of understanding what responsibilities may be appropriately accorded to parents and the family in the private sphere, and what may be seen as a public responsibility. To be effective, laws and policies must more or less accord with the views held by the population at large. If the population at large, or significant groups within the society, do not share an understanding of what parents should do for their children, then children risk being left unprotected by state provisions - on the understanding that parents will assume those functions - when that assumption may not be shared by significant groups of parents themselves.

The first question addressed in this chapter is thus the degree of assent in the Australian community for a range of common parental responsibilities. The areas chosen represent those which are stated or implied in the Part VII - Children of the Family Law Reform Act (1995) as the responsibilities which parents must assume after separation and divorce. These responsibilities are also those covered by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), which was used to inform the Family Law Reform Act (1995), and which sets out the rights of all children without regard to their parents' marital or relationship status. The chapter thus charts the extent to which there is divergence in the Australian community about the responsibilities of parents according to a number of important demographic markers (sex, age, socio-economic status and region).

A second issue, which is explored in full in Chapter 4, is the extent to which people's own marital history affects their views about parental responsibility on the basis of comparisons between the ever-divorced and the never-divorced groups in the general population. A third area examined is the extent to which the general population considers the marital and relationship status of parents to be a determinant of parental responsibility. The marital and relationship conditions proffered for commentary were that parents were (i) married, (ii) separated or divorced, (iii) never married or had (iv) never lived together. This question is explored for the various groups defined by sex, age, socio-economic status, state and whether or not they have ever experienced divorce.

The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of the overarching inquiry: the extent of the assent in the general Australian population to the principles set out in Part VII - Children of the Family Law Reform Act (1995), immediately prior to the implementation of those provisions. The significance of these data for other child and family policies will also be briefly explored.

Parental responsibilities - overview

Three aspects of parental responsibility are endorsed overwhelmingly as a core of universally applicable parental responsibility. Providing love and emotional support was viewed as very important by 98 per cent of the general population, teaching children right and wrong was seen as very important by 97 per cent of Australians and looking after children's education was seen as very important by 95 per cent of Australians at large.

With such wholehearted endorsement, there was no significant variation in opinions among women and men, the young and old, the rich and the poor, the well-educated and those with less education, or between those living in different states of Australia. Finally, there was no divergence among Australians who had never been divorced and those who had divorced at some time.

Exposure to violence. Parental responsibility for protecting children from exposure to violence between parents was seen as very important by a resounding majority of parents (89%) and as important by another ten per cent. Both females and males endorse this view very strongly although females somewhat more so than males. Support for this responsibility did not vary by household income, education levels, State, or membership of the ever-divorced or never-divorced groups.

There were, however, differences across age groups. Parents' responsibility for protecting children from violence between parents was perceived as slightly less important by the youngest group in the general population sample, those between 18 and 24 years, although 80 per cent of this group still considered this responsibility to be very important. It is possible that younger people are less aware of children's vulnerability in this area.

There were also differences within the ever-divorced group. Although the 13 per cent of the general population sample who had ever been divorced subscribed equally strongly to the parents' responsibility for protecting children as did those who had never divorced, almost all females who had divorced (97%) saw this responsibility as very important, compared with 86 per cent of the males. This may reflect a particular sensitivity among ever divorced women to the role of parents as protectors of children from family violence, although the overall strong endorsement of this responsibility makes this difference relatively small.

Social responsibilities. Responsibilities of parents for social aspects of their children's lives received somewhat less universal support. Providing contact with relatives was seen as a very important responsibility of parents by 57 per cent of Australians and was viewed as important by another 38 per cent. Women (65%) were more likely to see this function as a very important for parents than were men (49%). Other groups with different perceptions of parents' role in maintaining children's wider contact within the family were those younger than 24 years (38%), and people with household incomes less than $30,000 p.a. (67%). It appears that lower household income is associated with stronger endorsement of this social responsibility in children. Although education, which together with household income is a socio-economic indicator, was not significantly associated with the overall endorsement (important or very important) of this parental responsibility, the percentage supporting maintenance of contact with relatives as very important diminished with the higher the qualifications of respondents. There were no differences between states.

The responsibility of parents to provide children with access to sports, clubs and hobbies represents parental roles in opening the way for full social participation of children in the society and by extension as educators. Of the general population sample, 59 per cent thought that this was a very important responsibility, and another 37 per cent thought that it was important. This general view was expressed regardless of sex, age, household income, state of residence, or whether or not the respondent had ever been divorced.

The only demographic characteristic which distinguished the degree of support for this responsibility of parents was their level of education. Respondents with less formal education viewed the responsibility of parents to provide children with access to sports, clubs and hobbies as very important more often (68%) than those with degrees and diplomas (50%).

Summary. In summary, Australians have solid, homogeneous views on a set of parental responsibilities. That core comprises the responsibility of parents to provide love and emotional support, to teach children right from wrong and to look after their children's education. Although there was some between-groups variation in the importance of responsibilities for the protection of children from exposure to violence between parents - and more so on responsibilities for maintaining contact with relatives and providing children with access to sports, clubs and hobbies - virtually no-one thought that these responsibilities were not very important or not at all important.

By implication, parents who are unable or unwilling to fulfil these responsibilities might be expected to feel that their role as parent was seriously in jeopardy. Leaving aside circumstances which might make the exercise of parental responsibility injurious to the child, it would seem that Australians see these functions as part of the essence of being a parent and thus as responsibilities which should be exercised by all parents.

The next section explores the extent to which attitudes to parental responsibility are shaped by the different family contexts in which the parents find th emselves. Specifically, the focus is the impact of particular marital and relationship status on attitudes to parental responsibility in the eyes of the general population.

Marital and relationship status attitudes to parental responsibility

Although responsibilities of parents in the generic sense seem to have very widespread assent from the Australian public, it is important to see how stable those notions of responsibility are across marital and relationship variations. The extent to which responsibilities are attributed to married parents, to separated and divorced parents, to parents who have never married and even to parents who have never lived together is of interest to policy makers in areas such as family law, adoption, fostering and child welfare.

Specifically, respondents were asked to respond to the statements:

When parents are married, separated or divorced, never married, or never lived together children should be cared for by both parents sharing the duties and responsibilities for their care, welfare and development.

When parents are married, separated or divorced, never married, or never lived together children should be in contact with both their parents on a regular basis.

Caring. When parents are married 78 per cent of Australians think children should always be cared for by both parents, sharing the duties and responsibilities for their care, welfare and development and another 20 per cent think this should mostly be the case. When parents are separated or divorced, assent is still strong for this proposition, although somewhat more conditional; 50 per cent of Australians think this should always be the case and another 33 per cent think this should mostly be the way parents care for their children under these conditions. When parents have never married similar conditional assent is given, with 57 per cent of Australians thinking parents should always share the caring and another 28 per cent considering they should mostly do so. When parents have never lived together, the general endorsement for sharing the care of children drops substantially; 36 per cent of the general population think parents should always share the care of their children under these conditions, another 26 per cent think they should mostly share the care, 29 per cent think that shared care should be done sometimes and nine per cent think that shared care of children by parents who have never lived together should rarely or never be done.

These trends in endorsement of the care of children by both parents are generally undisturbed by demographic differences, and this remains true for sharing the care of children when parents are married, or separated or divorced. Some variations, however, were noted in the assent given to shared caring when parents had never married or had not lived together. Men are somewhat more likely than women to think that care should always be shared when parents had never married (61% v. 52%), and respondents in the age group 25-49 years (the prime time for having parental duties for dependent children) are somewhat less likely to endorse shared caring when parents had never lived together (33% v. 40%). There were minor but consistent trends for respondents with less formal education to endorse shared parenting under conditions of separation or divorce, and those of never having lived together.

Contact. When parents are married, 98 per cent of the population think that children should be in contact with both their parents on a regular basis either always (81%) or mostly (17%). When parents are separated or divorced, 90 per cent of Australians think that regular contact should be maintained, although this support is somewhat more conditional than in the case of married parents - 61 per cent thought regular contact should always be maintained and 29 per cent thought that this should mostly be the case. When parents have never married, 84 per cent of the general population think that children should always (58%) or mostly (26%) be in regular contact with both their parents. When parents have never lived together, assent to both parents always maintaining regular contact with children drops to 39 per cent, with another 25 per cent thinking contact should mostly be maintained on a regular basis.

There are some minor variations in this general view of the maintenance of regular contact by both parents with their children. Respondents with more formal education appeared more conditional in their support (that is a higher 'mostly' to 'always' ratio) in terms of contact when parents were separated or divorced, or had never lived together. No significant differences were noted by sex, age, household income, or State.

Financial support. When parents are married 65 per cent of Australians think that parents should always share the financial support of their children; another 21 per cent think that this should mostly be the case. Thus 86 per cent of Australians think that both parents should share the financial support of children in marriage. This assent does not differ significantly from that given to the sharing of support when parents are separated or divorced (91%), or have never married (87%). When parents have never lived together the general approval for sharing financial support drops to 76 per cent - 55 per cent endorsing universal sharing and 21 per cent perceiving this to be mostly the case.

The strong backing of shared parental responsibility for the financial support of children is quite homogeneous across the demographic groups studied, especially in the case of married parents. The exceptions are that when parents are separated or divorced, respondents with higher household incomes (more than $50,000 p.a.) appear less likely to support sharing than those with lower household incomes. When parents had never lived together, endorsement for their sharing the financial support of children appears to be somewhat modified by age and education. Older respondents tend to support the proposition more than younger; as do those with lower levels of formal education (although age and education level are inversely correlated, since older people had fewer opportunities for formal education than the younger generations).

Ever-divorced and never-divorced. One of the primary objectives of the study is to map the generality of attitudes to parental responsibility in Australian society. From the perspective of family law, the extent that attitudes are shared between ever-divorced and never-divorced groups is an important issue. In this section, this issue is examined by comparing these groups within the general population. In Chapter 4 the attitudes of a selected sample of divorced parents are presented. In addition, since the fundamental purpose of this project is to examine the attitudes of people towards parental responsibilities as they are portrayed in family law regulations, it is appropriate to question whether the experience of divorce affects attitudes to parental responsibilities.

Within the general population sample, 13 per cent of respondents had ever been divorced (94 women and 69 men). Since men and women typically have quite distinct family circumstances after separation and divorce, it may be reasonable to explore the effects of both divorce and sex on attitudes to parental responsibility. If there are children, women usually remain resident parents while men commonly become non-resident parents; women are more likely to remain sole parents over a period of time while men repartner more quickly and are more likely to be step parents (Funder, Harrison & Weston, 1993).

The results show, in fact, that ever-divorced men and women share with the never-divorced, similar views about the core parental responsibilities - providing love and emotional support, teaching children right from wrong, looking after children's education, and providing access to sports, clubs and hobbies. With regards to the responsibility of parents to provide contact with relatives, however, ever-divorced men seemed to show a heightened awareness of its importance and tended to endorse its importance as very important more frequently than never-divorced men (60% v 48%).

This trend for ever-divorced men to show heightened awareness about certain parental responsibilities recurs in relation to the responsibilities for care, contact and financial support which are tested under different marital conditions. Ever-divorced men appear somewhat more likely than never-divorced men to see caring as a shared responsibility in marriage (87% v. 77%) and in separation or divorce (62% v. 50%). They are also significantly more likely than their never-divorced counterparts to think that contact should always be shared when parents are separated or divorced (67% v. 60%) and when parents have never married (76% v. 58%).

In contrast with the differences between ever-divorced and never-divorced men on shared caring, ever-divorced men and women appeared to share with their never-divorced counterparts very similar views on the sharing of responsibility for contact on a regular basis with children and financial support across the various marital conditions examined (married, separated or divorced, never married and never lived together).

The generic caring responsibility appears to have greater salience for ever-divorced men than the 'nitty gritty' of contact and financial support. From the point of view of the philosophical underpinning of the Child Support Scheme, which assumes an ongoing responsibility for financial support on the part of both parents regardless of circumstances, this degree of commonality may be revealing and comforting.

Although some minor, but consistent, trends have been pointed out in relation to the ever-divorced males, the dominant tendency is for ever-divorced males and females to share similar views on parental responsibility with the never-divorced in the general population.

Summary

This chapter describes the attitudes to parental responsibilities of a sample of the general Australian population. Results show that Australians have quite common views about parental responsibilities; these could perhaps be called 'core' responsibilities, and subgroups in the society show only small variations from the mainstream in their views.

A key question addressed in this chapter was the possible differences in views between ever-divorced men and women and their never-divorced counterparts. The Family Law Reform Act (1995) Part VII - Children mandates that parental responsibilities continue uninterrupted by divorce unless the parties or the Court agree or order, and it appears that the attitudes of Australians explored here are largely consistent with that mandate.

A second specific issue addressed in the chapter is the universality of assent to the sharing between parents of generic responsibilities covered by custody, access and child support in the Family Law Act (1975). There was strong support for such sharing, although Australians appear to have a gradient of assent to the sharing of care, contact and financial support according to the marital and relationship status of the child's parents.

The strongest support is for sharing between married parents, then for sharing between parents who had never married, followed by separated or divorced parents and finally to parents who had never lived together. With minor exceptions, respondents who had themselves been divorced shared the views of their non-divorced counterparts. Although some tapering of perceived responsibility is evident depending on the marital or relationship status of the parents, the least difference in this regard is in the views of the general population sample about the responsibilities of parents for sharing the financial support of children. It seems that Australians think all parents should share finances in a similar manner.

Chapter 4 Divorced parents - attitudes to parental responsibilities

Introduction

Chapter 4 describes the attitudes of the divorced sample to parental responsibilities and compares the divorced sample with the general population sample described in the previous chapter. The divorced sample comprises parents who separated after January 1988. During that eight-year span, family law regulations and procedures were relatively stable and included child support provisions. It is this sample, then, which forms the benchmark for an evaluation of the impact on attitudes and behaviours of divorcing parents of Part VII - Children of the Australian Family Law Reform Act (1995). An account of the attitudes of divorced parents to parental responsibilities, in the period immediately preceding the reforms of 1995, provides the baseline comparative data for the evaluation of the impact of those changes on parental attitudes and behaviours after implementation of the reforms.

A second issue examined in this chapter is the extent to which the views of the divorced sample resemble those of the general population sample in terms of their assent to the responsibilities outlined in Part VII - Children. A third matter addressed is that of the possible variations among divorced parents with different demographic characteristics.

Lastly, a key factor expected to account for differences in the attitudes of parental responsibilities is the residence or non-residence of the parents with their children. The impact of the residence of children on the attitudes and reported behaviours of divorced parents - women and men - is therefore addressed.

The next chapter details the reported behaviours of divorced parents in regard to fulfilling the parental duties described in the attitudinal section. From these analyses it is possible to set a behavioural baseline for the execution of parental responsibilities by divorced parents against a range of demographic characteristics. The resulting matrix of comparisons in attitudes and behaviours of the divorced sample forms the baseline data, for comparisons with the situation after the introduction of the new law regulating parental responsibilities for children.

Overview of the divorced sample's views on parental responsibilities

The divorced sample resembled the general population sample in endorsing three aspects of parental responsibility as a core of universally applicable parental responsibility. Providing love and emotional support was viewed as very important by 98 per cent of the general population and 99 per cent of the divorced sample, teaching children right and wrong was seen as very important by 97 per cent of Australians and 98 per cent of the divorced sample and looking after children's education was seen as very important by 95 per cent of Australians at large and 97 per cent of the divorced sample . Divorced parents gave the same wholehearted endorsement as the general population and showed no significant variations in opinions among women and men, the young and old,   the rich and the poor,   the well-educated and those with less education, or between the States of Australia.

Parental responsibility for protecting children from exposure to violence between parents was seen as very important by a slightly higher proportion of the divorced sample than in the general population sample (94% v. 89%). Both female and male divorced parents gave similar endorsement for this responsibility, which did not vary significantly by age,   household income or education levels, or State.

Responsibilities parents have for the more social needs of their children received somewhat less universal support by divorced parents than the 'core' responsibilities, although providing contact with relatives and access to sports, clubs and hobbies were seen as somewhat more essential responsibilities by the divorced sample than in the general population sample. Providing contact with relatives was seen as a very important responsibility by 71 per cent of divorced parents versus 57 per cent in the general population sample. The trend in the general population sample for women more than men to see this function as very important (65% v. 49%) was also in evidence in the divorced sample (77% v. 64%). Among the divorced sample, these views did not differ significantly with any other demographic factor.

The responsibility of parents to provide children with access to sports, clubs, and hobbies was seen as more conditional, with 65 per cent seeing this as always a responsibility and another 31 per cent reporting it as mostly so. This endorsement again was supported slightly more strongly than was the case in the general population sample (65% v. 59%). The views of the divorced sample were very similar across sex, age, household income, education and State.

In summary, the divorced sample was very similar in most respects to the general population sample in its views of parental responsibility. Fundamentally, Australians - never-divorced and ever-divorced, and parents divorced under the Family Law Act (1975) in the last eight years - share a common understanding of parental responsibilities. The differences observed between the general population sample and the divorced sample are minor, although they may point to some areas in which sensitivity is required. The core set of responsibilities comprises the responsibility of parents to provide love and emotional support, to teach children right from wrong and to look after their children's education. Social aspects of parenting received less total endorsement, although women generally and divorced women particularly are more supportive of this role.

As was the case for the general population, and perhaps the more so because obstacles may be greater for some divorced parents, parents who are unable or unwilling to fulfil core responsibilities might be expected to feel that their identity as parent was under threat. From the child's perspective, children whose parents cannot or do not fulfil these responsibilities may perceive themselves outside the pale of normally-cared-for children. Leaving aside circumstances which might make the exercise of parental responsibility injurious to the child, it would seem that Australians see these functions as part of the essence of being a parent, and thus responsibilities which should be exercised by all parents for the good of their children.

Attitudes to parental responsibilities under various marital conditions

In this section, divorced parents' views of parental responsibility are presented across a range of marital and relationship circumstances, including two circumstances they have all experienced - being married and being separated and divorced.

Clearly the divorced sample share the general acceptance of a set of core parental responsibilities with the general population sample. Given that such parents have experienced changed circumstances in raising their children, changes which occurred at least in the shadow of the Family Law Act (1975) which prevailed over that period, it is important to ask how they perceive responsibilities as defined in Part VII - Children of the Family Law Reform Act (1995). In addition, it is important to establish the extent to which divorced parents hold similar views to the general population about these parental responsibilities.

A third question, which mirrors that put to the general population, is the stability of notions of responsibility across variations in marital and relationship states. The extent to which responsibilities are attributed to married parents, to separated or divorced parents, to parents who have never married and even to parents who have never lived together is of particular interest to policy makers in family law, in that these respondents have themselves experienced changed conditions of parenting. The key questions underlying this inquiry are whether divorced parents perceive that responsibilities to children change with transitions in marital status.

Specifically, respondents were asked to respond to the statements:

When parents are (married, separated or divorced, never married, or never lived together), children should be in contact with both their parents on a regular basis.

When parents are (married, separated or divorced, never married, or never lived together), both parents should share the financial support of their children.

Caring. Divorced parents have views very similar to the general population on the responsibility of both parents to care for their children, always sharing duties and responsibilities when parents are married (82% v 78 %); when the parents are separated or divorced (54% v 50%); when the parents have never married (67% v 57%); and when parents have never lived together (40% v 36%). All parents from both samples appear to see a gradient in parental responsibility for sharing the care of children from very high for married parents, lower for the never married, a little lower for the separated or divorced, and with the least assent to sharing the care by parents who have never lived together. Thus divorced parents perceive parental responsibility for sharing the care of children through the same lens as the general population; of particular interest, they see separated or divorced parents (a circumstance they have experienced) as having lesser responsibility for sharing the care of children than do married parents, and slightly less than parents who have never married.

In the divorced sample, as in the general population sample, only one demographic factor appeared to influence these views. Among the divorced parents, men were more likely than women to say that care should always be shared when parents are separated or divorced (61% v. 48%). In the general population divorced men were more likely than women to see shared care as always a responsibility when parents had never married. Divorced men in both samples thus appear to be more sensitive to their own condition, although they share the similar views to women about other conditions of parental responsibility.

Contact. The proposition that both parents should always be in contact with the child on a regular basis when parents are married received support from 99 per cent of the divorced parents - 85 per cent thought that should always be the case and 14 per cent thought that mostly parents should be in regular contact. In the general population similar very high support was expressed for this view.

For parents who are separated or divorced, divorced parents thought regular contact should be maintained less universally, with 72 per cent supporting contact always and another 20 per cent mostly in favour of regular contact. The range of responses was wide, however, with seven per cent saying they thought regular contact should be maintained sometimes and one per cent saying this should never be the case. There were no significant differences between the sexes, nor on any of the other demographic variables.

The divorced parents were somewhat more in favour of separated or divorced parents maintaining regular contact with their children than were the general population (72% v. 61%), but overall both groups were generally positive about maintained contact with children.

Divorced parents apparently make no distinction between separated or divorced parents on one hand and never married parents' responsibilities on the other. They consider that never married parents should always maintain regular contact (69%) or mostly do so (22%). Their level of support for regular contact between children and both parents when parents are never married is similar to that of the general population, and perhaps even more emphatic (69% v. 58% report always).

As was the case with the general population sample, the divorced parents appear to regard parental responsibilities of parents who have never lived together as somewhat diminished. Forty-nine per cent think these parents should always maintain regular contact, 21 per cent think contact should mostly occur, 25 per cent think it should occur sometimes and five per cent think this should be rarely or never. Both women and men had similar patterns of endorsement and no significant demographic variations were noted.

Financial support. It is perhaps worth noting, at the outset of this section on divorced parents' attitudes to parental responsibility for the financial support of children, that these parents potentially came under the aegis of the Child Support Scheme, and that these attitudes may thus reflect some of that experience.

Divorced parents give very similar levels of endorsement, however, to that of the general population sample for the parental responsibility to share the financial support for children. When parents are married, 70 per cent report that this should always be done, 20 per cent considering parents should mostly share financial responsibility and 10 per cent seeing this as a responsibility sometimes. When parents are separated or divorced, support for sharing financial support for children is at least as high, with 75 per cent saying this should always be shared, 17 per cent saying mostly and 8 per cent saying shared financial responsibility should only sometimes be the case. Just as the general population sample did not appear to distinguish between married and separated or divorced parents' financial responsibilities for children, nor did the divorced parents.

The attribution of financial responsibility to the never married follows the previous pattern. Seventy-two per cent report that financial support should always be shared, 18 per cent mostly, nine per cent sometimes and one per cent rarely. In both samples, financial responsibility of parents who are married, separated or divorced, or never married receive similar and modestly high endorsement by women and men, and across all the groups tested in the two samples.

In the same way that the general population sample appears to distinguish parents who have never lived together from the other parents, so too the divorced sample seems more circumspect in attributing shared responsibility to these parents. Still 80 per cent thought these parents should always (61%) or mostly (19%) share financial responsibility; another 16 per cent thought financial responsibility should be shared sometimes, and only four per cent thought this should rarely or never be the case.

Resident and non-resident mothers and fathers

Although resident and non-resident parents might be expected to share the general social norms for the 'core' parental responsibilities examine in this study, they might nevertheless be expected to have different views on responsibilities under various marital circumstances among which is separation and divorce. The life conditions of divorced parents who reside with their children and those who largely reside apart from them might, however, form their perceptions of what responsibilities parents should take for their children regarding care, contact and financial support. These possibilities are explored in this section.

Furthermore, the gender of the resident and non-resident parent may also be expected to influence the ways in which the divorced parent - whether resident or non-resident - views these responsibilities of parents under the various conditions examined here. This section presents the attitudes to 'core' parental responsibilities and attitudes to sharing of responsibilities under different marital conditions of resident and non-resident mothers and fathers, and the attitudes of these parents to the sharing of care, contact and financial support.

The following comparisons were made to test for differences between resident and non-resident, females and males:

Perhaps unsurprisingly, divorced parents - resident and non-resident, female and male - do not differ significantly in their views of the 'core' parental responsibilities. There seems to be an area of 'motherhood' and 'fatherhood' statements which are universally accepted. Contrary to expectation, however, resident and non-resident mothers and fathers do not differ significantly in their views on shared responsibility for the care, contact and financial support obligations of parents. This common view extends across the marital conditions examined - married, separated or divorced, never married and never lived together. None of the comparisons showed any significant deviation in the understanding that resident and non-resident females and males have of the central responsibilities set out in Part VII - Children of the Family Law Reform Act (1995).

When the family type of divorced parents was further refined into those who lived with no children, their own biological children only and families including non-biological children as well, no significant differences were noted in attitudes. We conclude that divorced parents whose responsibilities for children varies by different household composition share the same sense of responsibility for children.

Summary

Divorced parents do not appear to have views about parental responsibilities radically different from those held by the general population; they are very much not a group apart. In particular, divorced parents appear to see the responsibilities of separated and divorced parents in a way which is parallel to the population in general and on some issues they may be more sensitive than the general population. The common view is that shared caring of children is a parental responsibility, although the extent of assent to that view varies along a gradient of marital and relationship differences. Maintaining regular contact is seen as a common responsibility for married, separated or divorced, or never married parents, but less so for parents who have never lived together.

Sharing responsibility for the financial support of children is typically seen as 'sometimes' appropriate in all marital and relationship circumstances, with less of a gradient observable between views on the responsibilities of married parents, separated or divorced parents or those who have never married, or never lived together. Paying for the children is seen in a fairly constant light in both general and divorced samples. This study does not go beyond attitudes, but we may speculate that the conditional assent to financial support being shared is underpinned by factors such as perceived capacity to pay, needs of the child, relationship with the child, and perhaps also the relationship between parents. These are matters for other inquiries.

Finally, resident and non-resident parents, both male and female, share very similar views of the 'core' responsibilities of parents examined in the study; they are in the mainstream. They also share very much the same views of the responsibilities of parents - whether married, separated or divorced, never married or never having lived together - for sharing the care, contact and financial support of children. The different experiences of divorced women and men thus do not appear to alter their attitudes to the responsibilities set out in Part VII - Children of the Family Law Reform Act (1995).

Chapter 5 What divorced parents do for children

Attitudes and behaviours

A maxim in the field of social psychology is that attitude does not necessarily predict behaviour. Although to this point the report has dealt extensively with the attitudes of both the general population and divorced parents samples, setting standards of behaviour for parents towards their children is certainly among the objectives of family law reform. Specifically, Part VII - Children of the Family Law Reform Act (1995) outlines objectives for children which imply behaviours in their parents. For example: 'children have the right to know and be cared for by both parents regardless of whether their parents are married, separated, have never married or have never lived together' (S60B (2)(a)).

To determine how divorced parents actually behave at a time preceding the implementation of the Act (so that comparisons can be made with that baseline at a later stage) respondents in the divorced parent sample were asked what they did for their children. Respondents were asked how much responsibility they personally took for each of the six core areas covered in the attitudes section. Responses were on a five point scale of responsibility - total, most, some, little, none. Clearly reports are no substitute for observation of behaviours. The reports are, however, how parents perceive their actions towards children.

Overall divorced parents tend to report that they take total responsibility for love and emotional support (51%), teaching children right and wrong (48%), looking after education (49%), and protecting children from exposure to violence between parents (59%). They report less total responsibility (and more sharing of responsibilities) for the social responsibilities of keeping in touch with relatives (34%) and taking children to sports, clubs and hobbies (40%). Clearly the self-serving bias we all share is seen to operate here among divorced parents; they perceive their own responsibilities to be heavier than those of others. It is to be noted that the wording of the question leaves open who might be the person with whom responsibilities are shared.

Residence and gender. In family law, as in other child and family policies, a vexed question is the fairness and gender-blind quality of law and services. In family law regulations regarding children's residence, care and welfare, answers to such questions are often difficult because conditions such as residence are confounded with gender. Put simply, because most children reside principally with their mothers after separation, it is difficult to know whether this reflects biases in family law and other social legislation, or whether it reflects conditions of socialisation which affect all women and men in our society, and which predict that women usually provide ongoing nurture and are thus much more commonly left in charge of parenting responsibilities than men.

Some information on the fairness of the law in contested cases before the Court (Horwill & Bordow, 1983) shows that the Court does not seem to discriminate on the basis of gender. For the vast majority of parents who make arrangements for their children 'in the shadow of the law' we do not have good information, and the issue remains controversial. From the standpoint of law reform, it is important to know whether the changes to the law affect the ways in which parents fulfil their responsibilities as resident and non-resident parents and as women and men. It is important to distinguish differences in the exercise of responsibility which are a matter of the logistics of residence, and those which are specific to gender role differences which operate independently of residence with the child.

In this study of a large random sample of parents separated since 1988, we had a rare opportunity to address some of these questions. The sample contained 186 non-resident parents of whom 40 (22%) women and 146 (78%) were men. There were also 307 resident parents of whom 225 (73%) were women and 82 (27%) were men. Although it is clear from these statistics that the sample contains more resident parents and fewer non-resident parents than would be expected (why this occurred is a sampling issue and as yet unclear), the proportions of women and men in each group are consistent with previous studies of family reformation after divorce (Funder, Harrison & Weston, 1993). The samples thus provide a unique opportunity to describe the patterns of parental responsibilities of resident and non-resident, female and male parents at a point in time just prior to the introduction of the Family Law Reform Act (1995).

Residence and the exercise of parental responsibilities. It will come as no surprise that living apart from a child decreases the amount of reported responsibility, often to a very large extent. Areas of responsibility reported to be very much diminished in their execution by non-residence are:

Female and male resident parents. It is of interest to know whether male and female resident parents and male and female non-resident parents report carrying the same responsibili