Whisky Tango Foxtrot?!

[Doc]

I disagreed partly, but it looks as though I did a poor job of identifying where and what.

The first point I disagree with, since the "runaway dad" is not confined to low income absent fathers.  Courts use an escalating scale of "punitive child support" for increasing income level.  :angry: 

As to the second point, I disagreed with a single point cause and effect relationship. 

That minor disagreement turned into a point of departure to cover points not embodied in your post.  In retrospect, it was not a refutation, it was disagreement with using simplistic cause and effect premise.  The stats, I think we can agree, skew the numbers to "more dads running off" but the root causes (multiple) of that include the lack of equity in the court system,  incentivizing divorce over marriage healing, as well as the, sadly, too common exercise of departure by irresponsible men.

Occhi

edit for clarity
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Speaking as a Devil's advocate...

If I was making $5.15 an hour at Wafflehouse and some court banged me with the entirely unreasonable sum of four hundred dollars (Or hell, even two hundred) a week for child support, I would run away to. Hell, I would pack my bags, get on a Greyhound bus, and go as far away as I could possibly go. With taxes and such, that is, what, less than 150 a week in wages? Where does a fellow get enough to pay his own rent, and his own living expenses? Take a second job, that's 300 a week. 80 hour week. Something tells me that it is still not enough to cover child support payments and personal living costs. If you took a third job, ugh, part time, or on the week ends, say, another 20 hours, working 100 hour weeks, would you even clear 400 a week? Math is not my strong point. You wouldn't last long working under those kinds of conditions. I mean, you still have to make rent, power bill, phone, utilities like water and such, car payments, (if you even had a car) insurance, groceries, etc. I don't think it's physically possible.

Even somebody making eight or nine bucks an hour... Which is a fairly average wage for round these parts, that comes out to what, 360 a week? Not enough. Just not enough.

Given the unreasonable demands made with child support, and the physical impossiblity of actually making the payments, it's no wonder most men just run away and start over some place else if they can. And the judges don't care. It's been my experience that they don't give a crap if you can make the 200 bucks a week or whatever payments... They don't care about excuses. They don't care about the personal details of your life, they only care that you make the payment, or they sign the warrant to have you arrested.

Fellas... If a judge asked you to pay more for child support than you make in a week, what would you do? I am curious to see how some of the Lurkers might answer this question. Would you run away?