A recent CNN article speculated about a trend in the US Census data, showing the number of single fathers raising children increasing from 600,000 in 1982 to over 2,000,000 in 2011. While there are no “hard numbers” the article suggested that there is an increasing number of mothers who are simply feeling “total exhaustion, frustration, a sense of being overwhelmed by duty and the responsibility of raising children. Maybe some indulge in a momentary fantasy of running away.” It went on to raise issues of “The Narcissism Epidemic,” a book about the “me first” generation, and the values of being true to one’s self.
I meet good people who are struggling in our offices each day, and I have had conversations with mothers and fathers over a period of decades who are concerned about taking care of and being with their children after a divorce. It is a core issue in most divorces. It is a core issue facing our society. There are no “hard numbers”, but our courts have a hard and fast rule: “the best interests of the child”. That is the standard we work to uphold in the State of California, and as parents step back from their roles there is one voice the State is listening to more and more: The Child’s.
