THE key point that your article Justice for the fathers but what about the kids? (News Review, last week) fails to highlight is that currently more than 40% of all fathers lose contact with their children within just two years of a divorce settlement. Or, viewed another way, 30% of all children in our schools today do not have any contact with their biological father.

In fact the current law is presiding over the disintegration of the nuclear family in this country. Society ignores this at its peril. While mooted changes such as “shared residence” are not perfect solutions — as is clearly highlighted in your article — they do enable fathers to retain contact with their children and play a role in their upbringing.

Edward Docherty
London, NW3

IDEAL: The ideal arrangement for the children of separated parents would be “birdnesting” — they stay in one place, the parents come and go. The current situation is that if the parents cannot agree on parenting time, the courts restrict the children’s relationship with their non-residential parent to something based on a fortnightly visit. And the courts do not insist they even get that if the resident parent does not agree.

John Baker
Chair, Families Need Fathers
London EC2