Shared time parenting nelle situazioni di separazione e divorzio. Dalla responsabilità alla residenza

In several Western countries, laws have been enacted on shared-time parenting, that is the equal or near equal sharing of children’s time between the parents after their separation or di-vorce. The debate about shared-time parenting, also, is lively at both a national and an interna-tional level. Several reasons are attached to the request for shared parenting: to gain equality between parents, to allow fathers to have more contact with their children, and to guarantee the rights of children to maintain a relationship with both parents. However, shared-time parenting is a highly conflicted topic, both at a political and at an ideological level. The paper investigates the processes, interests and demands at the core of the equal time shift in child custody in the light of the current legal regulation of the family and of the configuration of gender relation-ships in society. Moreover, it considers the goals that law can achieve in this area of social action.