Shared parenting refers to a collaborative arrangement in child custody or divorce determinations in which both parents have the right and responsibility of being actively involved in the raising of the child(ren). The term is often used as a synonym for joint physical custody, but the exact definitions vary, with different jurisdictions defining it in different ways, and different sources using the term in different ways. A regime of shared parenting is based on the idea that parental responsibilities should be shared by both the parents.
It is typically a legal mechanism applied in cases of divorce, separation or when parents do not live together; in contrast, a Shared Earning/Shared Parenting Marriage is a marriage where the partners choose at the outset of the marriage (and prior to conceiving children) to share the work of childraising, earning money, house chores and recreation time in nearly equal fashion across all four domains.
Nature and History
Shared parenting arrangements are viewed as encouraging children to know both parents are actively involved and share responsibility in their upbringing.
Shared parenting has also been referred to as "collaborative parenting", "balanced parenting" or "equal shared parenting", and can also apply after the separation of adoptive or other non-biological parents. "Equally shared parenting" refers more commonly to childraising, breadwinning, housework and recreation time that are equally shared between two parents in an intact family.
Shared parenting after parental separation or divorce, also known as joint ohysical custody, has been increasing and is particulalily common in the Nordic countries, such as Sweden.