Should Parents Pay Reduced Child Support in Recession?

August 30, 2009

Moms and dads may be handed pink slips or have their wages cut, but the price of raising children isn't necessarily cheaper. In this tough economic time more and more non-custodial parents are asking to have their child support payments reduced. A recent report said:

With the economic downturn hitting men harder than women — 9.8 versus 7.5 percent unemployment — and men comprising most noncustodial parents, many dads are finding themselves struggling to make child support payments that were based on incomes they no longer earn.

What's your opinion?

Source: Getty

11 Comments

johndoe57 3 years 13 weeks

DOES THE RECESSION REDUCE THE COST OF RAISING THIER CHILDREN?

3 years 28 weeks

Child support payments are based on a table based on the gross income of the non custodial parent, so if income fluctuates as a result of loss of a job or reduced hours at work, then child support payments should alter accordingly. Since the non custodial parent were to get a raise, they would have to pay more, the opposite must be made true when the non custodial parent loses money. I know a nurse that takes home the same amount as a night security guard who sits around and does his homework from college because he slept around with a few women and now has five kids from three different women.

3 years 35 weeks

for justanerd1975 ur as dumb as u look. give paying dads a break too. they deserve it. its not always a mothers world.

ali321 3 years 38 weeks

Just like to add that the custodial parent is not always the mother. There are some good dads out there who do pull their weight.

smileyface 3 years 38 weeks

I'm in law school, going into family law, and I have set in on many child support hearings, and done a lot of research on this topic, and the standard to get a downward modification of child support is a change in circumstances, however sometimes loosing a job and making less money is not enough of a change in circumstances to warrant a modification. Its a vicious cycle, but that's the way it is.

3 years 38 weeks

it isn't about it being hard or not having, it is that an amount was selected based on a previously reported income. if it is impossible for him to continue paying that amount without having to cut other expenses (like health insurance -- if something happened to him, that's less dollars over the long run) or without dipping below the poverty line, then it needs to be adjusted.

justanerd1975 3 years 38 weeks

I guess I didn't answer the question- if the recession is hard on the noncustodial parent, and he does not have the child living with him, imagine how much harder it is for the custodial parent who does have the child with her. Better for one man to live without than for a mother and child to live without.

justanerd1975 3 years 38 weeks

This is a tough one, but the main point is that the child be cared for as needed so it is up to both parents to work together to make sure that happens.

runningesq 3 years 38 weeks

Yes, someone can file a motion to reduce child support if he or she has a material change in circumstances.

Zivanod 3 years 38 weeks

If the non-custodial parent has incurred a great decrease or even an increase in his/her salary, then yes the child support payments should alter accordingly.

EvieJ 3 years 38 weeks

I think it should depend on the circumstances that were taken into account when the amount of support was decided (who earns how much, how much is each able earn, etc.). If the non-custodial parent has lost his/her job and is no longer able to afford as much support, and the custodial parent is still working, it's only fair that the custodial agree to shoulder more of the burden.

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