Co-parenting

Co-parenting refers to the way parents share responsibilities in bringing up their children. Even after the divorce, you and the other parent still have the duty of parenting your children. This should remain a priority for both of you.

If you are seriously considering divorce, it is important to remember that it is in the best interest of your children that they continue their relationship with both parents. Children thrive best when they have both parents who cooperate well and are actively involved in their lives to help them grow and develop. Each parent may have different roles and responsibilities in guiding and supporting their children to bring out the best in them.

The Ministry of Social and Family Development conducted a study in 2020 to examine co-parenting styles and its associated outcomes. Findings show that the cooperative co-parenting style is associated with positive outcomes for children such as less child behavioural and emotional problems and better school learning behaviour compared to parallel co-parenting and single parenting. Co-operative coparenting is characterised by parents who communicate frequently and collaborate with each other regarding their children’s matters and make major decisions about their children together. Parallel co-parenting is characterised by parents who tend not to communicate with each other and seldom make major decisions about their children together, but both continue to be involved in their children’s lives. Lastly, single parenting is characterised by parents who do not communicate with each other and only one parent is heavily involved in their children’s lives.

Read on to find out how to co-parent with your children’s best interests in mind.