According to a Dec. 15 article on Newsweek online, fathers are getting a larger share of child custody than they did even 20 years ago.

"There's no longer the same presumption that young children must be with their mother," Leslie Drozd, editor of the Journal of Child Custody, tells Newsweek.

Courts are "more inclined to disregard gender and look at who's the better parent," says Gary Nickelson, president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

Only 5 percent of divorced spouses opt for joint physical custody, the article says. But a forthcoming study in the journal Family Relations says non-resident fathers are spending more time with their kids. "In 1976," says Newsweek, "only 18 percent of these dads saw their children (ages 6-12) at least once a week. By 2002, that number had risen to 31 percent."

The story was written by Susanna Schrobsdorff, who leads off by talking about her own divorce and the decision she and her ex-husband made to seek joint physical custody. It's a nice piece of reporting and writing.