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Accepted Paper:
"Sometime it's a problem, when people ask". Children's experience of living in two homes
Maria Reimann
(University of Warsaw)
A growing number of couples in Poland decide to shared childcare equally after divorce (separation). Children who live in joint physical custody spend a comparable amount of time at mother's and father's place. What is their experience of home and belonging? Is it possible to have to homes?
Paper long abstract:
The number of children who live in joint physical custody is growing in Europe and in Poland. While divorce is known to be a difficult experience for children, joint physical custody is - in the light of recent studies - considered to be a better solution when comes to children's health and wellbeing.
In my research I look at the experience of Polish children who live in joint physical custody and try to understand their experience of family, home, and belonging. In a society where "home" is by definition one, a family that underwent a divorce is called "broken", and children of divorced parents are considered to be at risk, what my interviewees say could seem revolutionary. "Mum's place" and "dad's place" are both "home" to them. From their perspective the family is not "broken", but rather alright, and they don't think about themselves as in trouble or need. The children I spoke to put much more emphasis on the relationships between the individual family members than on the logistics and structures of family life. If taken seriously, could those voices change the way we think about family?