Last year, the Obama Administration proposed a child support reform in order to attempt to get more regular child support payments that are on time, increase the amount of time the parent without custody is allowed to see their child or children, and increase the employment rate and earnings of those parents who have to pay child support.
Child support has and continues to be a problem for many families. The parent that has custody of the child or children struggles to get by without the assistance of child support payments and in some cases has to rely on public assistance programs in order to provide for their children. The parent without custody that ends up paying child support payments may struggle with paying for their own expenses as well as the child support payments, and sometimes ends up owing a lot of money in back child support payments. They can even end up going to jail for not paying their child support, which makes things more difficult for them because they could lose their job or have a more difficult time finding a job because the jail time is on their permanent record.
The Obama Administration has been attempting to help this endless cycle of unpaid child support. They are trying to make things easier for the mother, the father, and the children, so that which ever parent the child is staying with has the financial assistance they need in order to provide for their children, the noncustodial parent has employment opportunities and opportunities for better salaries so that they can better financially assist their children, and the children receive more of the things they need in order to live a happy and healthy life.
Unfortunately, some of the Republicans in the House Committee on Ways and Means have tried to block the child support reform through legislation. Why would they attempt to stop such a great sounding reform? These Republicans claim that in supporting the child support reform they are supporting letting deadbeat parents off the hook for the child support they owe. Incarcerating someone for not paying their child support and then still expecting them to make their child support payments when they are incarcerated (with interest) doesn’t help anyone. They just end up in debt and have a much more difficult time finding employment, the parent with the custody doesn’t receive the child support and has to rely on public assistance programs, and the child or children doesn’t end up getting the things they need to live.
Also, under these circumstances, the parent who was incarcerated for not paying their child support payments doesn’t get to see their child or children because they are in jail. With the child support reform, parents aren’t incarcerated for not paying their child support, but instead are helped by the government to obtain employment and better wages, which helps the parent with the custody to get the things the child or children needs and isn’t dependent upon public assistance programs.
Works Cited
Boteach, Melissa, and Rebecca Vallas. “3 Facts You Need to Know About the Obama Administration’s Proposed Child Support Rules.” American Progress. Center For American Progress, 18 June 2015. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/poverty/news/2015/06/18/115417/3-facts-you-need-to-know-about-the-obama-administrations-proposed-child-support-rules/.
