Single parents Erin and Leon talk through the big issues of relationship break-ups — child support, the division of assets and whether mums and dads have equal rights.
Tens of thousands of Australians get divorced every year — and many more relationships break down.
It's a stressful time, posing all kinds of difficult questions. Who gets custody of the kids? How do you divide the assets? Who gets the cat? 👶🏠🐈
Leon and Erin were never a couple. They're mates who are both single parents, and have agreed to sit down and thrash out the big issues around what happens after a couple splits.
Single mums are often demonised. But some single dads, like Leon, reckon that in a number of ways they've got it tougher.
You get to play director: choose from each set of questions to carve your own path through this intimate conversation.
What do you want to watch first?
"You really know that you are on your own and a single parent when you get your first bout of diarrhoea. Whatever happens, you're the only one there to clean that mess up.
"I did change my perception of [single mums] once I became a solo dad and had my children full-time — a game-changer for me."
Whoa, Erin really took that conversation to places I did not expect. 🚽🤮💩
"The emotional impact on me was enormous because of the fact that everything you think that you are — your house, your children, your wife — when it's taken away you just become so vulnerable."
"I know that there's a lot of single mums out there that are supposed to be getting child support and they don't get it."
"Dad, what's for dinner? Let's go to the takeaways." Leon might be speaking for a few single dads out there. 🍔🍟🍕
What's next?
"I think this is one area where at times it could be argued that [women] have more rights than men."
"I actually disagree. When you look at the pay scales, men have the ability to earn way more than what women do — still today."
Division of assets, splitting superannuation and the gender pay gap. These two are really avoiding the big issues, aren't they? 👩💰👨
"You're probably not going to speak to each other the way that you should." Ain't that the truth? 🤐😠😢
Credits
- Reporter, photography, filming, video editing: Margaret Burin
- Designer: Ben Spraggon
- Developer: Colin Gourlay
- Additional video editing: Loretta Florance
- Additional filming: Robert Koenig-Luck
- Emojis: EmojiOne
- Editor: Matt Liddy
