The Myth of Deadbeat Dads
TV host Bill O’Reilly recently declared that “There is an epidemic of child abandonment in America, mainly by fathers.” Sen. Evan Bayh has attacked “irresponsible” fathers in several speeches. Campaigning for president, Al Gore promised harsher measures against “deadbeat dads,” including sending more to jail. The Clinton administration implemented numerous child-support “crackdowns,” including the ominously named Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act; the Directory of New Hires, which contains the name of every newly hired individual in the country so that any deadbeat among them can be tracked down; and the Federal Case Registry, a massive system of government surveillance that aims to monitor 16–19 million citizens.1
In an ironic role reversal, Republicans have responded to the Democrats’ law-and-order campaign with social programs. President Bush recently announced a $320 million program to “promote responsible fatherhood,” and Congress is considering a bill to “reconnect fathers with their families.” Yet the underlying message is similar. The administration promises to increase collections with a “five-year plan.” “We want to send the strongest possible message that parents cannot walk away from their children.”2 In fact, no evidence exists that large numbers of fathers voluntarily abandon their children. No government or academic study has ever demonstrated such an epidemic, and those studies that have addressed the question directly have concluded otherwise.
In the largest federally funded study ever conducted on the subject, psychologist Sanford Braver demonstrated that very few married fathers abandon their children. Overwhelmingly it is mothers, not fathers, who are walking away from marriages and thus separating children from their fathers. Other studies have reached similar or moredramatic conclusions.3
Braver also found that when they are employed, virtually all divorced fathers pay the child support they owe and that the number of arrearages “estimated” by the government is derived not from any actual statistics but from surveys. The Census Bureau simply asked mothers whether they were receiving payments. No data exists to corroborate the mothers’ claims.
As Braver found, “there is no actively maintained national database of child support payments.”4Braver’s research undermines most justifications for the multi-billion-dollar criminal enforcement machinery, as well as the proliferation of government programs to “promote responsible fatherhood.”5
If Braver is to be believed — and no official or scholar has challenged his research — the government is engaged in a massive witch hunt against innocent citizens.
http://www.geocities.com/capitolHill/5910/Baskerville/Deadbeats1.pdf
In an ironic role reversal, Republicans have responded to the Democrats’ law-and-order campaign with social programs. President Bush recently announced a $320 million program to “promote responsible fatherhood,” and Congress is considering a bill to “reconnect fathers with their families.” Yet the underlying message is similar. The administration promises to increase collections with a “five-year plan.” “We want to send the strongest possible message that parents cannot walk away from their children.”2 In fact, no evidence exists that large numbers of fathers voluntarily abandon their children. No government or academic study has ever demonstrated such an epidemic, and those studies that have addressed the question directly have concluded otherwise.
In the largest federally funded study ever conducted on the subject, psychologist Sanford Braver demonstrated that very few married fathers abandon their children. Overwhelmingly it is mothers, not fathers, who are walking away from marriages and thus separating children from their fathers. Other studies have reached similar or moredramatic conclusions.3
Braver also found that when they are employed, virtually all divorced fathers pay the child support they owe and that the number of arrearages “estimated” by the government is derived not from any actual statistics but from surveys. The Census Bureau simply asked mothers whether they were receiving payments. No data exists to corroborate the mothers’ claims.
As Braver found, “there is no actively maintained national database of child support payments.”4Braver’s research undermines most justifications for the multi-billion-dollar criminal enforcement machinery, as well as the proliferation of government programs to “promote responsible fatherhood.”5
If Braver is to be believed — and no official or scholar has challenged his research — the government is engaged in a massive witch hunt against innocent citizens.
http://www.geocities.com/capitolHill/5910/Baskerville/Deadbeats1.pdf
posted by Michael Burns at 11:49 AM
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