SPLITTING, the COST

The cost of living is putting the squeeze on separation. These days, consciously uncoupling” is all about cost-cutting, writes Amy Molloy

- Bonnie Douglas

In our suburban street we have not one but three couples who are currently “bird-nesting”: the name given to divorcing couples who continue to co-own (or co-rent) one home for their children, while the parents move in and out on alternate weeks (or other schedule they’ve agreed upon). Also known as “magpie parenting”, the exact arrangement depends on a couple’s circumstances. On their “off week”, many parents couch surf with friends or boomerang back to their own parents. A privileged few can afford to rent a “spare” apartment (or two!) to live in when they’re not nesting with their offspring.

The latter was the option chosen by journalist Anna Whitehouse (known as “Mother Pukka”) and her husband, Matt Farquharson, after they split last year, although she admits it’s a “financial stretch” and calls it a “privilege” that “doesn’t work for everybody”. She and Farquharson “fly in and out” of their family home in London and also have an apartment nearby, which they both share, with a handover happening every Sunday.