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64 THRHR 192 (2001)
Labours of Love: Child Custody and the Division of Matrimonial Property at Divorce

handle is hein.journals/tyromhldre64 and id is 228 raw text is: OPSOMMING Liefdeswerk: Toesig en beheer oor kinders en die verdeling van bates by egskeiding Hierdie artikel analiseer die verband tussen die versorging van kinders wat meestal deur vroue gedurende huwelike en na egskeiding as toesighoudende ouers verrig word, en die verdeling van bates by egskeiding. Alhoewel howe en die bred gemeenskap vroue se versorgingstaak me as werk klassifiseer nie, is die effek van vroue se beleggings in hulle mans se loopbane gewoonlik om die man se verdienververmoe ten koste van die vrou te verhoog. 1 INTRODUCTION Current interpretations of the best interests standard, it is sometimes argued, favour women by granting them custody of children while men's limited access rights depend on their having to pay maintenance. This is accompanied by a popular perception of divorced women as alimony drones who live in leisure on the proceeds of their ex-husbands' labour. Yet, in her often-cited study of post-divorce couples in the United States, Weitzman showed a dramatic drop in the living standards of women and children while men experienced an increase in their income, leading to what is commonly referred to as the feminization of poverty.' Seven years later these findings were replicated in studies of post-divorce economic adjustment in other countries.2 Although spousal maintenance and the division of matrimonial property in South African law have recently been discussed,3 my purpose is to situate child custody in 1 The divorce revolution: The unexpected social and economic consequences for women and children in America (1985) 323-356: When income is compared to needs, divorced men experience an average 42 percent rise in their standard of living in the first year after the divorce, while divorced women (and their children) experience a 73 percent decline (323). 2 Maclean and Weitzman 'The way ahead: A policy agenda in Weitzman and Maclean (eds) Economic consequences of divorce: The international perspective (1992) 417 (hereafter Mac- lean and Weitzman); Bastard and Voneche Attitudes to finance after divorce in France in Weitzman and Maclean 407; Funder Australia: A proposal for reform in Weitzman and Maclean 143 146. 3 See eg Sinclair Marriage: Is it still a commitment for life entailing a duty of support? 1983 Acta Juridica 75; Sinclair The law of marriage vol 1 (1996); Van Zyl Post-divorce support - theory and practice 1989 De lure 71; De Jong New trends regarding the maintenance of spouses upon divorce 1999 THRHR 75. Labours of love: Child custody and the division of matrimonial property at divorce Elsje Bornhuys BA LLM PhD Senior~ Lectuter in Lxiiv University ofthe Witwtersrand

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