Deadbeat Dads, or beat dead Dads?

[copernicus66]

http://glennsacks.com/blog/?page_id=850

This article broaches a topic which has always been on my mind: What percentage of 'deadbeat Dads' fail to meet child support payments because of errors in the system, or because they are financially incapable of doing so?

Also, why does the title of 'deadbeat Dad' only apply to non-custodial fathers who can't meet child support payments? If they were still married and living with their child, and spending the exact same amount of money on the child's welfare, why aren't they still referred to as 'deadbeat Dads'?

This little sentence from the article also stood out:

Though only dads are criticized in the Southtown article, according to US Census data, noncustodial mothers are actually 20% more likely to default on their child support obligations than noncustodial fathers.

So why are deadbeat Dads villified in the media, while Deadbeat Moms are left relatively unscathed? Even mothers who kill their children tend to elicit sympathy from the public.

 

[draqon]

and you would like to see, what in the media?

equality among sexes is an illusion.

 

[cosmictraveler]

equality among sexes is an illusion.

And that is why you'll never find a woman that will want you.

 

[Nasor]

Something exactly like what this article describes happened to a guy I know. He lost his job when the company he worked for abruptly ceased to exist, but the courts refused to lower his child support payments. He quickly got a job as a waiter as a temporary measure while he looked for a new real job, but the monthly child support payments were more than his total monthly income. By the time he got a new real job he owed a huge amount of back payments and penalties.

One of the really strange things about the system is that your payments are apparently based on how much money you make, not any sort of estimate of how much it actually costs to take care of the child.