For my Room for Debate topic i chose the article titled : Collecting Child Support Without Making Matters Worse.
In this article they discuss how hard it is for some parent's to pay the child support they owe because of financial hardships. It's stated that father's non being able to pay, often go to jail costing them their jobs which makes matter's even worse. The suggested solution would be to find a way to reform child support so that families do not suffer.
I chose this topic because it personally affects me. I raise my 4 year old daughter with the help of my mother. Two weekends out of the month my daughter will go to her father's house. I by myself pay for her tuition for catholic school, health insurance, all activities, clothes, shoes and whatever else she wants/needs. I work three different jobs to make sure I can provide for her on my own. I receive help from her father when he feels like it. He works, lives with his parents, has no bills, and drives a nice new car. My mother raised me alone until she met my step dad and never received a dime from my father. Neither one of these men are poor they are perfectly capable of paying, it was the fact that they chose not to.
So let's think about this, the article is worried about how hard it is for the non-custodial parent to have such a large debt to pay. Well who told you to have all of these kids that you can't pay for? Are we looking at drug screenings? Are they paying off bookies instead of giving money for their kids? And let's think about the custodial parent like myself who works morning to night 6 days a week and pay thousands of dollars for the kids they didn't create themselves on their own. Why should we find a way to reform child support because people are irresponsible? If anything we should be finding ways to enforce it more. I mean let's be honest they put your name in the paper and you get a bench warrant if you don't pay. Who really reads the paper? And if you know your behind on child support I'm sure your laying below the radar.
In this article they discuss how hard it is for some parent's to pay the child support they owe because of financial hardships. It's stated that father's non being able to pay, often go to jail costing them their jobs which makes matter's even worse. The suggested solution would be to find a way to reform child support so that families do not suffer.
I chose this topic because it personally affects me. I raise my 4 year old daughter with the help of my mother. Two weekends out of the month my daughter will go to her father's house. I by myself pay for her tuition for catholic school, health insurance, all activities, clothes, shoes and whatever else she wants/needs. I work three different jobs to make sure I can provide for her on my own. I receive help from her father when he feels like it. He works, lives with his parents, has no bills, and drives a nice new car. My mother raised me alone until she met my step dad and never received a dime from my father. Neither one of these men are poor they are perfectly capable of paying, it was the fact that they chose not to.
- Support Families, Not Government Coffers Kenneth Braswell, Fathers Incorporated
- Help, Don’t Punish, Poor Fathers Jacquelyn Boggess, Center for Family Policy and Practice
These articles state that we should "help" the fathers that cant afford to pay their child support. And where is that money coming from? Taxes? I don't think so. I'm not paying for my kid and everyone else's. And re we sure these fathers are really not working? What if their getting paid under the table? what if their spending their money on drugs? And what about the non custodial parents who just don't care and don't feel like they should have to pay?
- Help, Don’t Punish, Poor Fathers Jacquelyn Boggess, Center for Family Policy and Practice
- The System Can Be Tough, But It’s Fair Colleen Eubanks, National Child Support Enforcement Association
- Poverty Is No Excuse for Irresponsibility Kezia Willingham, writer
These articles focus more on that there's no excuse for failing to pay child support. The non custodial parents have created the situation they have gotten themselves in and they are responsible for handling it. Also they discuss how hard it is for the custodial parents to assume total responsibility of the child if no one is giving them the proper support.
So let's think about this, the article is worried about how hard it is for the non-custodial parent to have such a large debt to pay. Well who told you to have all of these kids that you can't pay for? Are we looking at drug screenings? Are they paying off bookies instead of giving money for their kids? And let's think about the custodial parent like myself who works morning to night 6 days a week and pay thousands of dollars for the kids they didn't create themselves on their own. Why should we find a way to reform child support because people are irresponsible? If anything we should be finding ways to enforce it more. I mean let's be honest they put your name in the paper and you get a bench warrant if you don't pay. Who really reads the paper? And if you know your behind on child support I'm sure your laying below the radar.