(Policy frameworks in some countries encourage both parents
to share responsibility for children after separation, but we
know little about whether responsibility for major decision-
making or day-to-day living arrangements (placement) are
assigned to one parent or shared between them. In this paper
we use recently-released data (European Union Statistics on
Income and Living Conditions, EU-SILC) to document the extent
to which children in 20 countries have responsibilities shared
between the parents, assigned to only one, or a mixture. Using
an index that combines decision-making and placement, we
find substantial differences across countries, confirming
research showing great variation in living arrangements and
adding variation in decision-making. We explore potential rea-
sons for different levels of shared responsibility across countries.
Using simple bivariate statistics, we find higher levels of sharing
when the legal context acknowledged sharing longer ago, and
when there are higher levels of gender equality, educational
attainment, and parental separation.