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The Chicago Sun-Times article “State's deadbeat dads owe $3 billion” (4/8/07)
powerfully depicts the economic struggles some custodial mothers face after
divorce. Unfortunately, the article’s simplistic portrayal of divorced moms as
long-suffering saints and divorced dads as deadbeats misses a great deal about
the realities of divorce and child support in Illinois.
The article draws from and refers readers to
Illinois Child Support Enforcement’s “deadbeats” page. This “deadbeats” page
provides a wide array of details about the 130 Illinois fathers and mothers who
have child support arrearages of $5,000 or more. However, the state chose to
omit one very important piece of information—the alleged deadbeats’ occupations.
Had the state listed these, it would be very apparent that most of the parents
listed are not “deadbeats,” but are instead low-income men and women who were
unable to meet the rigid and unrealistic demands of the child support system.
Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement data shows that two-thirds of those
behind on child support nationwide earn poverty level wages; less than four
percent of the national child support debt is owed by those earning $40,000 or
more a year. According to the largest federally-funded study of divorced dads
ever conducted, unemployment, not willful neglect, is the largest cause of
failure to pay child support.
The Sun-Times informs us that “deadbeat parents owe $3 billion in
Illinois and $100 billion nationwide.” Yet most of this consists of
artificially-inflated arrearages created because the system is mulishly
impervious to the economic realities working people face, such as layoffs, wage
cuts, unemployment, and work-related injuries. According to the Urban Institute,
less than one in 20 non-custodial parents who suffers a substantial drop in
income is able to get courts to reduce the support obligation. In such cases,
the amounts owed mount quickly, as do interest (9% in Illinois) and penalties.
It is true, as the article demonstrates that the drop in living standards which
custodial mothers sometimes experience after divorce can be drastic. However,
research shows that divorced dads’ living standard drops as much or more. What
both sides in the divorce wars often fail to recognize is that the income that
once supported one household cannot support two at the same level, regardless of
how much fathers pay.
The Sun-Times tells us that “divorce lawyers joke that high-earning
husbands come down with ‘AIDS’ after a divorce—‘Acquired Income Deficiency
Syndrome.’" Yet if one tries thinking of divorced fathers as people instead of
as villains, it’s not hard to see why some dads earn less money after a divorce.
Divorce is a psychologically shattering event for fathers, usually more so than
for mothers. Fathers—not mothers—are often cut off from their children. Many
suffer from depression. A divorced father is ten times more likely to commit
suicide than a divorced mother, and three times more likely to commit suicide
than a married father.
The vast majority of divorces are initiated by women, not by men. Research shows
that most of these do not involve a serious transgression by the men, such as
violence or adultery, but instead because the women feel unappreciated or
emotionally unfulfilled. From a man’s perspective, this often means that his
wife: ended the marriage against his will; took his children out of his everyday
life; and harmed his kids by breaking up the stable, two-parent home they once
enjoyed. Then she demanded that he dramatically lower his standard of living in
order to finance her decision. It's not hard to see why men who once worked hard
to support their families may be too disheartened to make the same sacrifices
under these new conditions.
One also wonders
about the Sun-Times’ priorities. Mark
Saban is one of the dads singled out for
criticism, yet the article informs us that Saban
visits his kids regularly, has paid some child
support, and puts forth a plausible case that
after his business failed he lost the ability to
pay the support that was demanded of him. Only
one who views a father as an ATM machine and
nothing more could agree with the Sun-Times'
listing of Saban as the “Second Worst dad in
Illinois”?
Mothers often violate fathers’ already meager
visitation rights, and sometimes alienate their children from them. Some mothers
move far away in order to frustrate fathers’ contact with their children, while
others make spurious accusations of abuse. Fathers are sometimes financially
ruined by divorce--legal bills are huge, and they are often compelled by courts
to pay their ex-wives’ legal costs, too.
Given the myriad injustices and problems fathers face when dealing with the
family law system, it isn’t surprising that there are divorced fathers who don't
pay their child support. What’s surprising is that so many do.
This column first appeared in the Chicago
Sun-Times (4/14/07).
The Chicago Sun-Times article to which
it responds is
State's deadbeat dads owe $3 bil.--Deadbeat
parents owe $3 billion in Illinois alone, $100
billion nationwide. When parents refuse to honor
child
support,
their kids pay. And so do you (4/8/07).
We commend the paper for its willingness to
publish such criticism.
Jeffery
M. Leving is one of America's most prominent family law attorneys. He is the
author of the new HarperCollins book
Divorce Wars: A Field Guide to the Winning Tactics, Preemptive Strikes, and Top
Maneuvers When Divorce Gets Ugly. His website is
www.dadsrights.com.
Glenn
Sacks' columns on men's and fathers' issues have appeared in dozens of America's
largest newspapers. Glenn can be reached via his website at
www.GlennSacks.com or
via email at Glenn@GlennSacks.com.
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