Joint physical custody and mothers’ life satisfaction in Belgium, Finland, and Germany

Joint physical custody (JPC) is an increasingly common care arrangement in which children live about equally with their parents after separation or divorce. This study examined the association between JPC and mothers' life satisfaction in Belgium, Finland, and Germany. The objective was to determine whether mothers with (asymmetric or symmetric) JPC differed in terms of life satisfaction from mothers with sole physical custody (SPC) and whether there were country-specific differences. Using data from the studies Divorce in Flanders, Survey among Separated Families in Finland, and Family Models in Germany, we estimated OLS regression models for resident mothers in SPC and JPC families with minor children. Results showed significant differences between countries. Mothers in Belgium did not differ in terms of life satisfaction depending on their child's physical custody arrangement. However, mothers with symmetric JPC had higher life satisfaction than their counterparts with SPC in the Finnish sample, while both asymmetric and symmetric JPC mothers reported higher life satisfaction than SPC mothers in Germany. These differences, however, disappeared after introducing control variables to the regression models. Findings suggest that selection into different physical custody arrangements may explain the positive link between JPC and mothers' life satisfaction; a finding with far-reaching implications.