Does anyone else think child support should work like EBT?

HQR3 · 2010-09-11T01:59:21+00:00

I've liked the idea since we've had the technology to do it. The debit card need not restrict the purchases—that would be a bureaucratic nightmare—but what it would do is document the amount spent on the child. If she used the child support on car payments for her BF or breast implants, it would register. In addition, a fair system would annually deduct the amount not spent on the child from the next year's CS obligation. That way if the payee spent 20% on Prada bags, next year she would get 80% of last year's payment.

Of course, the fems would then counter that the lion share of the CS is spent on the gen'l budget (e.g., rent, utilities, food) that also benefits the child. Which would lead to a back-and-forth argument that we lose because they're better organized. sigh

As much as I'd like a system that stops CS from being backdoor alimony, I'd much prefer a system that no longer coerces men to impoverish themselves paying for the privilege of not being a meaningful part of their children's lives. Shared parenting is so obviously fair and wise even a caveman could see it. (Ok, ok. A caveman who wasn't a lawyer or feminist.)

lordcheesus · 2010-09-14T10:41:12+00:00

It's a great idea, but I see problems. My parents divorced when I was a kid, and my dad had to pay child support to my mother (and before someone gripes about this, it was fair. Before this he was making lots of money, and giving my mum $20 a month sometimes for two kids, plus he left her with upwards of $50,000 debt and kicked her and us out of the house).

Child support was supposed to come in every month, at the start of the month. It often was late, or didn't arrive, so in the mean time my mother had to spend her money on food, clothes and school fees for us kids, and then the child support on rent and petrol later in the month when it arrived. If the child support money had been on some sort of debit system which only allowed spending directly related to the kids, things would have been very difficult.

I think many women abuse child support, yes. I know personally of some who spend literally all of their child support payments on cosmetics and their phone bills. I'd like nothing better than to kick these selfish women out on their arses until they learn to be financially responsible. However, I would be hesitant to do this at the expense of hardworking women who are receiving child support, and who are doing all the right things. At the end of the day, not only would they lose out, but their kids would too, and no one wants to see that.

In an ideal world, I'd like more government oversight of the child support situation in order to prevent men and women paying excessive amounts to their partners, and to prevent child support being spent on things other than the child, but this would cost the taxpayers a lot. Perhaps the solution is to stop basing child support payments on the father's income, and rather on how much it actually costs to raise a child. That way, wealthier fathers and mothers without primary custody won't be stuck paying disproportionate amounts of money, they'll be paying what it actually costs to raise a kid. Just my two cents.

kloo2yoo · 2010-09-11T01:48:09+00:00

child support can be rightly used for much more than food and clothing. Movies, amusement parks, toys, and candy comes to mind. there are a million things you'd buy for your kid that aren't strictly necessary.

And speaking of amusement parks, there are also the roving carnivals that are largely cash-only. They're also mostly overpriced ripoffs, but it's still worth it for your kid to 1) have a fun fling and 2) for a low price, watch con artists in action and learn what to look for.

GIGANTOMACHYUSA · 2010-09-11T01:23:17+00:00

More bureaucracy is not the answer, more bureaucracy is the problem

Title	Does anyone else think child support should work like EBT?
Author	[deleted]
Upvotes	10
Comments	9
Date	September 11, 2010 1:16 AM UTC (15 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/dcc09/does_anyone_else_think_child_support_should_work/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/does-anyone-else-think-child-support-should-work.1047567 https://theredarchive.com/post/1047567

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