National Parents Organization and New Hampshire Families recently received the results of independent polling concerning the attitudes of those in New Hampshire about shared parenting. The results show overwhelming support for a legal presumption of equal shared parenting when parents are living apart.
Recent polling by Researchscape in New Hampshire adds to a body of similar research done in more than two dozen states now, including Alabama in 2023; Iowa, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Virginia in 2022; and New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut in 2021. In every state in which polling has been done, the support for a legal presumption of equal shared parenting when parents separate is stunningly strong. (See sharedparenting.org/shared-parenting-polling for details.)
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So, what does the New Hampshire public think about shared parenting?
- 97% of those in New Hampshire believe that, in cases of divorce or separation of parents, “it is in the child’s best interest … to have as much time as possible with each parent.”
- 95% of those in New Hampshire expressed a commitment to vote their beliefs being “more likely to vote for a candidate who supports children spending equal or nearly equal time with each parent … when both parents are fit and willing to be parents.”
- 90% of those in New Hampshire believe that the state should promote shared parenting for all children with separated parents.
- 83% believe that when there is conflict between parents, awarding sole custody to one parent increases conflict.
- 86% support a change in New Hampshire law that creates a rebuttable presumption that shared parenting is in the best interest of a child after a parental separation, and,
- 87% believe that both parents should have equal rights and responsibilities following divorce or separation.
Decades of scientific research align with these public attitudes. More than forty years of empirical research provide near-uniform support for the conclusion that, when parents are living apart, the more time children spend with each of their parents, the better outcomes for children. Children fare better on all metrics of child well-being when parents share equally in raising them—even when the parents are not in agreement about engaging in shared parenting.
Under current New Hampshire law, in the absence of parental agreement, one parent is designated the custodial parent, and the other parent is relegated to an every-other-weekend visitor in the child’s life. This pits the parents against one another and contributes to the parental conflict that we know is harmful for children.
Assuring parents, and especially the children, that parental separation will not, in the typical case, degrade or destroy the relationship the children have with both parents will help to reduce the conflict that arises when parents separate. This is important because it is the ongoing conflict and extended litigation, together with the loss of a full relationship with one parent, that is far more harmful to children than the fact that the parents are living apart.
New Hampshire children and families pray their rights and best interests will prevail over the special interests that oppose shared parenting and that New Hampshire Legislators will VOTE GREEN ON HB185 on Wednesday, January 3, 2024.
