Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ames.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!umcp-cs!gymble!lll-crg!dual!ames!barry
From: barry@ames.UUCP (Kenn Barry)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Child support
Message-ID: <1047@ames.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 19-Jul-85 22:05:35 EDT
Article-I.D.: ames.1047
Posted: Fri Jul 19 22:05:35 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 21-Jul-85 23:01:30 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: NASA-Ames Research Center, Mtn. View, CA
Lines: 41

>Why don't people (couples) who can't support children
>stop having so many of them.  Granted, in a large number
>of "woman head of household" cases the woman may have expected
>the husband to "provide" and then he may have run off without
>paying child support, but I hardly think this is the rule.

	Yup, it's the rule. When I was a welfare case worker (during
the '70's) in family aid, solo female parents outnumbered solo male parents
and couples, combined, by about 4:1. Welfare regulations make it much
harder for a two-parent family to qualify, than a one-parent household.
	As for child support: non-payment of child support may be the
fourth most common crime in America (after speeding, cheating on taxes
and drug violations). While it's probably true that most men meet their
obligation, a large minority don't. Many lack the money; others are out
to "punish" their ex-wives; and some just don't care.
	I think the subject of child support is worth a bit of discussion.
I wonder how many of you women out there have had the misfortune of finding
out how ineffective the enforcement of a child support order is, when the
man is unwilling to pay? Not many women in that situation can afford
high-priced legal help.
	Based on my experience in welfare and child support, there is
one big reform that would be a world of help: at some specific point
(say, when child support falls 3 months behind), wage garnishment should
be automatic. As of today, forced waged garnishment for child support
is almost unheard of. Judges *can* order it (in every state I know of),
but rarely do.
	We shouldn't depend on judges. We should have a law with teeth,
one that ensures that absent parents who are able to pay will have a
strong incentive to do so.
	I know this won't solve all the problems. Many of the men who
don't pay don't *have* the money, or work irregularly, and change jobs
too often to make garnishment work. But there are scofflaws out there,
men who know how much they can get away with without getting into real
trouble, and we could make a real dent in welfare expenditures if we
took child support straight out of their paycheck.

-  From the Crow's Nest  -                      Kenn Barry
                                                NASA-Ames Research Center
                                                Moffett Field, CA
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 	USENET:		 {ihnp4,vortex,dual,nsc,hao,hplabs}!ames!barry