The national survey took into account 559 parents and was carried out with the help of the Office for National Statistics Omnibus Survey conducted between July 2006 and March 2007. It focused only on cases where parents and children actually met.
29 percent of split couples agreed that the partner who had moved out of the family home did not remain in touch with his/her children. The reason for this as given by the ‘resident’ parent was that the ‘non-resident’ parent had decided not to remain in contact with the children.
Another 24 percent of the respondents revealed that it was their decision to snap all ties. Overall, the study showed that most of the separated parents had trouble in maintaining a relationship between their children and former partners for various reasons.
The report, which was a joint effort of the single parents’ charity Gingerbread and the University of Oxford, showed that both the resident as well as non-resident parents were concerned about the standard of the other’s care towards children.
Fiona Weir, Chief Executive of Gingerbread, was quoted as saying, “The findings show just how hard it is for many separated families to achieve arrangements that work for all concerned.”
Weir further added, “Families out there are struggling along with precious little help. Parents need to know that help is out there, and need to feel comfortable using services to help them resolve contact issues.”
The charity has advised that there should be a stronger support system within families, who find it difficult to maintain contact.
Poll results revealed that children who had contact with both the parents after separation, 52 percent met at least once a week. 28 percent met only once a month, whereas less than 21 percent met less than once a month.
Also, it came to light that some of the families who split, they knocked the doors of the court to sort out their differences.
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