by Ardith Fisher

Created on: August 18, 2009   Last Updated: August 22, 2009

The benefits of the government forcing the father to pay his obligation are numerous. If the absent parent does not pay the child support we have too many families on government assistance. If the support is not paid, then most of the children would have to do with out, causing more juvenile delinquency, free lunches at school and peer pressure because of the life style they are forced to live in. Some of the custodial parents would almost be forced to live in lower income housing and then the trickle down affect will happen as a learned trait. When the custodial parent learns to get along with nothing the children think that it is a way of life to live off the government and depend on others for help. With government intervention the children will obtain a healthier life and a better and safer life style.

This writer has been divorced for several years and very seldom received support payment until my children were older. The payments were sporadic and I never knew when I would get a payment making it hard to set up a budget. I was also forced to turn them into latch key children early on because I could not afford expensive day care or before and after school care. When the government finally intervened and were able to track his employment, it was harder for him to evade the process.

The intervention of the government allows them to monitor the employment history of the absent parent , and it makes it easier for them to locate them if they travel from state to state trying to avoid paying the support. It is also beneficial for health insurance reasons. Better records are kept as to how much support was actually paid, and this decreases a lot of friction between the two parents which in the long run is better for the children.

Too many custodial parents give up to easily and say "oh well" but it is his or her obligation to pay the support. The child support does not necessarily have to be spent on the children. It is a payment contributing to the welfare of the household, so many parents think it is solely for the children. If the child lives with you it can be used for food, clothing and household expenses, but so often the refusal to pay is because he or she only wants the money spent on the children.

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