Some custody statistics were presented by a New Hampshire top family court judge testifying to the NH House of Representatives Children and Family Law Committee.
Of note in the testimony, along with other notable comments, Judge Kelly speaks to the fact that in 15% of NH contested custody cases fathers who seek primary custody actually get it. Instructively, he also notes that the court is giving fathers a good deal when contrasted with the 10% who get primary custody by agreement without a court order).
The custody numbers that Judge Kelly states are as follows:
Father Primary Mother primary Joint
uncontested 10% 66% 24%
contested 15% 75% 10%
Mediation will not help when there is no motive to mediate in good faith. Those who can amicably reach an agreement will continue to do so, while those who have conflict (even where created by only one of the parties) will not. The motive to manufacture acrimony and conflict in these cases is clear for vengeful parents (particularly mothers) who want to minimize the other parent.