This article discusses the relationship between law and social change in connection with the child's right to participate in decisions on residence. The empirical data are drawn from a survey of parents who have arranged shared residence for their children. In line with earlier research on children's participation in court disputes over contact and residence, we found that the age of the child is decisive regarding the degree of influence they have in private agreements. But, surprisingly, it was found that the educational level of the parents had a major impact on children's participation in...

This article discusses the relationship between law and social change in connection with the child's right to participate in decisions on residence. The empirical data are drawn from a survey of parents who have arranged shared residence for their children. In line with earlier research on children's participation in court disputes over contact and residence, we found that the age of the child is decisive regarding the degree of influence they have in private agreements. But, surprisingly, it was found that the educational level of the parents had a major impact on children's participation in decisions about shared residence. When we controlled for gender it turned out that highly educated fathers were least likely of all parents to report that the child had been taken into a co-decision process. This result might add a new dimension to our understanding of the relationship between law and social change.