The Primary Caretaker Parent Rule: Child Custody and the Dynamics of Greed

Abstract

The discussion of divorce in our society dwells disproportionately on the problems of the upper middle class. This is understandable, because it is the upper middle class that disproportionately reads and writes books and articles about divorce and, therefore, has a disproportionate voice in fashioning the laws and social mores that affect those undergoing divorce. The problems of upper middle class individuals undergoing divorce, however, are different from those afflicting the less-well-off individuals who make up the bulk of the divorcing population. The guilt feelings that may oppress a Yale Medical School-trained single mother when she hires a full-time housekeeper to care for her three-year-old are difficult for.her, but the problems facing most of the mothers who pass through my court are more urgent and more concrete. They have all they can do to pay the rent and utility bills, keep the car running and find a little adult conversation.