Deadbeat Parents
Deadbeat! ... These names, along with many others are how some people in society label divorced parents who do not pay child-support. ... “Maybe it’s because nearly two-thirds of all absent parents pay no child-support. ... Whatever the cause, one fact remains; Non-payment of child support is a major problem for single custodial parents, their children and for our nation as a whole. The number of single parents raising children today ranges between 10 and 14 million, ninety- percent of them being women. ... With single parents trying to raise children by themselves, the income in many homes is low. Some parents are forced to work two jobs just to make ends meet; others turn to the government for support: Medicaid, the district attorney, or perhaps Aid For Dependent Children (AFDC). The people in these government positions spend hundreds of hours trying to track down “Deadbeat” parents. ... There are ways to get “Deadbeat” parents to pay up. ... Does it get the delinquent parents to start paying child-support? ... “Virginia collects payments from about 75 percent of the “10 Most Wanted” parents within six to eight months” (p. ... “In 1996, the city collected a record $235 million from “Deadbeat” dads and moms who owed support to 135,000 children” (Salkin p. ... The child-support agency does not automatically suspend the parents’ licenses. They first send out notices warning parents that their licenses are in jeopardy unless they pay child-support.