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The Los Angeles Times
Saturday, August 7, 1999
Schiff supporting failed child support policy
By JOHN SMITH
 California State Sen.
Schiff's recent column on child support displays his appalling lack
of understanding of this issue, which unfortunately is par for the
course. ("Kids deserve to get their due," July 31) How else can you
explain 25 years of failed child support policy?
The senator might be surprised to
learn that states highest in welfare and child support payments rank
lowest in child well-being, while the states with the lowest child
support and welfare payments rank highest in child well-being. Why
is this? Welfare and child support become single-parent household
enablers, which turns out to be about the worst thing that can
happen to a child, effectively losing one parent.
More money means more
independence, which decreases the chance children will be raised in
an intact home. This is corroborated by divorce statistics. Divorces
increase during economic boom times and decrease during tough times.
Children raised below the poverty line in intact homes fared better
than children raised above the poverty line in broken homes.
So if this new bureaucracy that
Schiff is promoting is good at its job of collecting money, it would
mean that our children and society will actually be worse off. After
a rash of school shootings, it should be clear that parental
involvement -- not money -- is key. By creating more broken homes,
child support makes increased parental involvement all but
impossible.
After all, you've just
exiled one parent out of the child's life. Since it's usually the
father that loses custody, look for more youth crimes and discipline
problems as fathers are usually the ones responsible for enforcing
punishment.
Schiff continues to
display ignorance of this issue by reciting the popular myth about
how child support must be collected to help the poorest citizens --
those on welfare. Guess what? All child support collected in welfare
cases goes back to the government -- not to the families. Child
support collections reimburse welfare so if welfare hasn't lifted
them out of poverty, it is impossible for child support to do so.
Child support, with its excessive
awards and Draconian punishments, only serves to force noncustodial
parents into exile, causing irreparable harm to children. Mothers
usually tell me that child support is too low, not too high. But
when I ask them if they'd be willing to give custody of the children
to the father and pay him the exact amount of child support he is
expected to pay her, they scream bloody murder. According to the
Government Accounting Office, noncustodial mothers have the worst
child support compliance track records, but we never hear of
"deadbeat moms."
While our country
spends billions collecting child support, virtually nothing is spent
on visitation enforcement. Over 40% of mothers admit interfering
with visitation as reported in Sanford Braver's book," Divorced
Dads: Shattering the Myths," which is available in all Burbank
libraries.
The problem with
"Move-away Moms" is well-known. Once she gains custody of the
children, she moves away to punish the father.
Lack of accountability is a major
reason that parents who can afford to pay child support don't. Child
support is tax-free income to the custodial parent. It can be spent
on anything: drugs, booze, a new hairstyle, perhaps even the
children. Unlike the IRS, no documentation is required showing how
and where the child support was spent.
It is assumed it will be spent on
the children. However, economists estimate that only $1 out of every
$5 of support is spent on children. Furthermore, no one ever asks
custodial parents to prove they are contributing their fair share.
The average child support is 20% to 80% based on standard
visitation.
This new child support
program is nothing but a reimplementation of the same failed policy.
The only change is that more of your tax dollars will be spent on
yet another bureaucracy. We must pass laws that emphasize increased
parental involvement over money collected.
We need to hold couples
accountable for the children they have created. We must not allow
"Move-away Moms" to go unpunished. Children have a right to be
raised by both biological parents, and parents have a responsibility
to raise their children. Child support should only be used as a last
resort, either when both parents agree to it or when one parent
refuses to care for their children.
JOHN SMITH is a Burbank resident
and research analyst for the Alliance for Non-Custodial Parents'
Rights. Reach him at P.O. Box 3451, Burbank, CA 91508-3451 or abolish_cs@att.net.
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