Research findings on Massachusetts dads, peers nationally

To an impressively high degree, dads — just like moms — seek inclusion and the opportunity to play a key role in the lives of their children.

And what that overwhelmingly translates to is their collective aversion to being shut out on activities with their kids via onerous divorce-related rulings that materially limit visiting time and bar them from imparting their views on important matters.

We note those matters on our family law website at The Law Offices of Lisa A. Ruggieri in Wellesley. They centrally include key bullet points affecting children like education, health care, religion, school activities and moral instruction.

As we stress on our site, courts generally acknowledge as optimal family law outcomes where the so-called “legal custody” germane to decision-making authority in vital spheres is shared by both parents. Increasingly, judges making divorce rulings readily acknowledge that children’s best interests are promoted when both mom and dad are liberally on the scene.

Empirical evidence on that subject echoes today’s prevailing judicial assumptions (which come with a caveat, of course; in some instances, which a proven family law attorney can address, shared legal and physical custody is inimical to a child’s best interests).

And most men likely laud the findings, especially research results recently published by the national and broadly respected Pew Research Center.

In a nutshell, culled data on the subject of dads, kids and custody indicates this: Generally speaking, fathers are every bit as passionate about parenting as are mothers. Pew Research states that they view their parental role “as central to their identity.”

That a high percentage of men also regard their parenting prerogatives and duties as “rewarding” and “enjoyable” bodes well for perceptions regarding parenting and for the well-being of American families.