Deadbeat Dads: A National Child Support Scandal [Hardcover]

Marcia M. Boumil (Author), Joel Friedman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 11, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0275951251 | ISBN-13: 978-0275951252

Recently, many political voices have indicated a strong desire to track down absent fathers who have absconded without fulfilling child support obligations to their biological or adopted children. This renewed interest in deadbeat dads has resulted from a recognition that the social welfare programs, which pick up the tab for abandoned children, are contributing significantly to an ever-increasing federal budget deficit. Meanwhile, in a large number of cases, there simply isn't enough money for an absent parent to maintain his own separate support and fulfill the support obligations that the law requires. This book explores the history, reforms, and consequences of child support in America. The authors have included case studies as well as discussions on the psychological consequences of separating families, effects of divorce laws on the award of child support, contested paternity, and child custody alternatives. They conclude with a discussion on economic responsibility and the deadbeat epidemic. The book is intended to empower the larger number of parents who are caught in the midst of overworked agencies, discouraging tales, and the lack of information that keeps them paralyzed from acting on their own behalf.

Editorial Reviews

Review

.,."well researched and provides a great deal of information on such topics as the effect of fault and nofault divorce laws on the awarding of child support, legal guidelines for establishing and enforcing child support awards, child custody alternatives and their impact on the payment of support, and social relationships, economic responsibility, and the deadbeat epidemic."-PPT Express

Book Description

Evaluates problems with the child care support system in the United States. Looks at reform movements and ways in which to ensure financial support from an absent parent.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 168 pages
• Publisher: Praeger (March 11, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275951251
• ISBN-13: 978-0275951252
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,387,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars *Deadbeat Dads*: A Publishing Scandal, March 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Deadbeat Dads: A National Child Support Scandal (Hardcover)

In reviewing a book, one must keep in mind the book's purpose and intended audience. *Gulliver's Travels* would make a poor travelogue. But this caveat poses a problem for someone writing a review of *Deadbeat Dads: A National Child Support Scandal*. What is its purpose and intended audience?

Is it intended for academics and others with a serious interest in understanding the problem of noncompliance with child support orders? One hopes not. This book has nothing to offer such readers. The book is poorly researched, almost completely undocumented and largely lacking in understanding of the problem it seeks to highlight. Statistics are striking in their absence and, in the few instances where they are included, they are seldom attributed to their source. 'Many' and 'often' are employed so as not to tax the reader with numbers, and there is a consistent bias in how these words are used. Even small percentages are described as representing 'many' cases when it suits the authors' purposes of reinforcing stereotypes.)

Perhaps the book is intended as a call for legislative and court action. If so, it fails completely. Not only is it dangerous to predicate legislative and judicial action on an mistaken understanding of social problems, the book contains no viable suggestions for legislative or judicial solutions.

Is it intended for those seeking to collect court ordered child support? Again, one hopes not because the book gives precious little practical advice. And some of what is offered is of dubious value: "[I]f the deadbeat's workplace is known, she [the woman owed child support] might go there dressed in rags, *perhaps with the children*, making it known to all what the problem is and who is at fault. As long as no laws are broken, she can make her point in a powerful and effective manner" (p. 126-7, emphasis added). This book, with its provocative and alliterative (and very offensive) title, its "dumbed down" prose, and its cartoon versions of "case studies", is likely to appeal only to mediocre high school students trying to dash off a required term paper. Unfortunately, students relying on this book will not come to understand the problem the book purports to address. Here are a few of the more egregious errors in the book:

*It is claimed that no-fault divorce laws has resulted in "[c]hildren's standards of living . . . [dropping], substantially in fact, to the extent that their household income is likely to be approximately one-third of its predivorce level" (p. 49). There is no citation for this claim. The only study claiming to show anything approaching this effect of no-fault divorce laws was that done by Lenore Weitzman (*The Divorce Revolution*, 1985). Weitzman's study has since been shown to be radically wrong and she has recanted her claims. Interestingly, though Weitzman's exercise in "junk science" must be the source of the authors' statistic here, Weitzman's name does not appear in the book--not even in the rather long bibliography.)

*Nowhere in the book does the reader learn that 52% of all fathers who owe child support earn less than $6,155 per year (University of Wisconsin Poverty Studies Institute, 1993).

*It is nominally acknowledge that noncustodial mothers can be "deadbeats," too. However, it is not adequately noted that the reason most "deadbeat parents" are fathers (a fact that the authors repeatedly reinforce--as if the title isn't sufficient emphasis) is that, by far, most people who are ordered to pay child support are fathers. In fact, 47% of noncustodial mothers default on child support obligations, compared with 27% of noncustodial fathers who default (DHHS Technical Analysis Paper No. 42, 1991).

*The book mentions a couple of times that child support compliance is higher when parents share custody. So as not to burden the intended reader, it isn't mentioned that child support compliance exceeds 90% in cases of joint custody, is almost 80% when non-custodial parents have frequent visitation, and drops to about 44% when visitation is denied. Nevertheless, encouraging joint custody is not trumpeted as a solution to child support non-compliance. Indeed, in the discussion of various forms of custody, three full pages and three "case studies" are devoted to the claimed advantages of sole custody. Advantages of joint custody are confined to one short paragraph that describes "another school of thought" (p. 95).

While mediocre high school students, eager to find a source that they can easily digest and cite in writing a term paper, are being misled about the problem of child support, they will be helped to an unhealthy dose of stereotyping. The motives of fathers who seek custody are repeatedly questioned. Motherhood is described as an "occupation" (p. 47) and women are described as leaving "the work force . . . to assume the responsibilities of being a married woman and mother" (p. 46).

This book is not worth buying; it is not worth reading; it is not worth cutting down the trees used to print it. There is a scandal showcased by *Deadbeat Dads*, to be sure. But the scandal is how a book like this one could be published.

Donald C. Hubin, Ph.D., Columbus, Ohio

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book expresses popular myths surrounding child support., November 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Deadbeat Dads: A National Child Support Scandal (Hardcover)

If you're looking for a well-rounded book objectively exploring child support issues - this isn't it. If you're looking for a one-sided, male bashing view - complete with all of the popular myths surrounding child support - this book is for you.

I find it amazing that such a derogatory term as Deadbeat Dad could be used, let alone make it the title of the book.

From their Ivy League ivory towers, two medical doctors take a stab at performing public policy. This book is full of subjective statements and never presents alternate views or opposing arguments. Surprisingly, this book contains no footnotes, although they do list a bibliography. Their example "stories" seem flat and hollow - like they were cooked up just to fit the point they were trying to make. In every example, the man is the bad guy, the cause of the problem and the woman is the victim. What I did like about the book is that they did not try to cover up the fact that it's all about getting money based on gender bias.

If you're looking for practical information, you won't find it here. If you're looking for rigorous research and a thought-provoking text, you will be seriously disappointed.

-John Smith, Research Analyst Alliance for Non-Custodial Parents Rights