There's always two sides to every single story. My husband was divorced when I met him and he has a child from his first marriage. One of the things that attracted me to him in the first place–besides his good Puerto Rican looks, of course!–was that I could immediately tell that he was an amazing dad. He has always, always been there for my stepson, not only fulfilling his financial obligations, but his fatherly ones too.
But way too many dads–and moms–are nothing like that after they get divorced. Unfortunately, not only are lots of kids of divorced parents growing up without their dads or moms, but they also lack the financial support they deserve because their parents don't pay child support. In an effort to curtail that, the federal government is changing the policy for those who owe back child support.
The change will specifically affect people who receive government benefits—like disability and Social Security benefits—and owe back child support. So that starting next year, states will be allowed to seize every dollar of federal benefits from these so-called deadbeat parents.
At first glance, it seems like the kind of change that I would fully support. I have nothing but contempt for parents who think they're no longer responsible for their kids once they divorce their spouses. I know that's pretty harsh and not every situation is the same, but truth be told, a large percentage of the parents who don't pay child support are pretty much just deadbeats who'd much rather spend their money elsewhere or are just gaming the system at the expense of their own offspring.
Yet, this policy change will affect a lot of people whose sole source of income is what they receive in benefit every month. In other words, the change will essentially leave thousands of poor and disabled men, who owe child support, destitute. While it can definitely be argued that some of them don't even deserve the benefits they get to begin with, a lot of them are truly disabled or unable to find a job to pay what they owe in child support.
The worse part is that, in many cases, the bills are decades old and the children are now adults. Plus, most of the money–usually interest and fees that have added up–will end up in the hands of the government as repayment for welfare benefits provided for those children due to their parents failure to pay child support.
I know, it sounds like a whole big, confusing mess, but it truly doesn't seem fair to those who will lose their only source of income. I guess everything is different when you look at it from the other's side.
What do you think about this policy? Is it fair?
Image via stephanski/flickr
