I'm not a fan of child support laws, and my basic beleif is that a father shouldn't have to pay for a child he doesn't want. And that I certainly shouldn't have to pay for a government to step in and force him to be a responsible adult.
However many people find this view to be too "cold," was there anything in place before the government took over and are there any facts and statisitics that show how the government getting involved is actually worse for the child? And how could a stateless free-market society actually improve this system? Marriage Insurance?
Thanks
This is quite tangled, but at a minimum both parents have obligations to their child. I fail to see how the severing of a marriage would end that. There are many complicating factors of course, such as whether impregnation was part of the father's intent etc.
-Jon
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If we acknowledge the right of a woman to choose to not bear a child, how can we refuse the same right to a man?
If she has the option of curtailing her responsibility for childraising for the next 18+ years, he should as well. Once the responsibility has been freely accepted, I don't see any way of honorably walking away from it - but the failure of contraception does not automatically mean that one must accept the responsibility to be a parent.
In the case of dissoultion of marriage, it gets more complex. Like other things in economics, raising a child costs what it costs. However, this cost will change dramatically with social and economic status, whether the marriage is continued or not. I expect that people with more cash flow spend more money than I do, per child, in raising them. Calculating "fair" child support is likely to be contentious, and adding it to the emotional upheaval of the dissolution of a marriage just makes it more difficult to keep it at a level that will be seen as just by all involved.
One thing I think would work better than the current USAian policy would be for the parent who had more control have the additional responsibility to go with it. Joint custody matched with joint expenses would be (relatively) easy to calculate, and full custody should carry with it the full financial responsibility - if one parent may no longer even visit with their children, it's hard to justify making them pay for someone else to raise them.
Danno
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Danno: One thing I think would work better than the current USAian policy would be for the parent who had more control have the additional responsibility to go with it. Joint custody matched with joint expenses would be (relatively) easy to calculate, and full custody should carry with it the full financial responsibility - if one parent may no longer even visit with their children, it's hard to justify making them pay for someone else to raise them.
I agree that if a father was given a larger role in the child's upbringing after a seperation he would more likely voluntarily give more, studies seem to show thise as well. However, what if the father were to abandon the mother and child, does that make him free from his obligations?
One of my favourite Blairisms is the 'rights and responsibilites' jargon.
Right now a father's rights with regards to his kids are still highly unequal to mother's rights. At present, governments want fathers to shoulder the responsibilities without the corresponding rights.
Has anyone considered pre-nuptual agreements as the solution to this quagmire. For instance "in the event of abuse,dereliction, etc., the the father shall have to pay $X for damages caused...". It's a private contract between two persons, rather than a coercive payment enforced by the state. The agreement could also outline the living arrangements for the child(ren), rather than having a lengthy and costly judicial hearing.
Contractual obligations are surely superlative to a set of marriage vows. We have to start believing that pre-nups arn't just for the rich and famous.
As for young unmarried men who plant their seed in a woman and cause an unwanted pregnancy...I don't know.
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Angurse:and my basic beleif is that a father shouldn't have to pay for a child he doesn't want.
Ditto. This is a form of slavery.
Angurse:However many people find this view to be too "cold," was there anything in place before the government took over and are there any facts and statisitics that show how the government getting involved is actually worse for the child?
Higher rates of divorce? If a married couple are having problems and the wife can get the same income through child support payments, she will be more inclined to divorce him all other things being equal. As for it being to "cold", family is a division of labour. It used to be the case that parents would have children because they were an asset. You have extra hands to do work and someone to take care of you when you get old. Now people seem to be having children to get welfare and child support payments, which means higher levels of illigitimacy and family breakup. I don't think this is in the child's interest. It is much better when he has two parents who have every incentive to ensure that he is successful, since this is the best guarentee of being taken care of when they reach their later years.
Angurse:And how could a stateless free-market society actually improve this system?
By not giving incentives for family breakup.
And what about the unmarried couple? Or the one-night stand? Or even the rape victim? How can the free market help them?
Angurse: And what about the unmarried couple? Or the one-night stand? Or even the rape victim? How can the free market help them?
By providing abortion clinics. :P
Equality before the law and material equality are not only different but are in conflict with each other; and we can achieve either one or the other, but not both at the same time. -- F. A. Hayek in The Constitution of Liberty
Yet another demonstration of the problems with many in the freedom movement. Freedom does not mean an abdication of responsibility for one's action. When two people take the action of having sex there are possible outcomes as a result of their actions. One of the outcomes possible is creating a child. Even if one is using contraception that only reduces the likelihood of a certain outcome, it does not eliminate it. One's intention is irrelevant to taking responisbility for the result of the action. If a person did not want to have the risk of having children they could refrain from sex. When I drive my car I have no intention of causing an accident and I might take steps to reduce the likelihood but if I cause an accident I am still responsible.
So the mother and father have obligations to care for the child.
Maxliberty:Yet another demonstration of the problems with many in the freedom movement. Freedom does not mean an abdication of responsibility for one's action. When two people take the action of having sex there are possible outcomes as a result of their actions. One of the outcomes possible is creating a child. Even if one is using contraception that only reduces the likelihood of a certain outcome, it does not eliminate it. One's intention is irrelevant to taking responisbility for the result of the action. If a person did not want to have the risk of having children they could refrain from sex. When I drive my car I have no intention of causing an accident and I might take steps to reduce the likelihood but if I cause an accident I am still responsible.
Are you suggesting that the government step in and force the father to fulfill his obligations? Also, in the case of seperation, if the father has little-to-no parental duties, does he then still have to pay for the child he cannot raise (or see in many cases)?
Maxliberty:So the mother and father have obligations to care for the child.
What if the father doesn't want the child? He is then at the mercy of the woman.
Angurse: Maxliberty:Yet another demonstration of the problems with many in the freedom movement. Freedom does not mean an abdication of responsibility for one's action. When two people take the action of having sex there are possible outcomes as a result of their actions. One of the outcomes possible is creating a child. Even if one is using contraception that only reduces the likelihood of a certain outcome, it does not eliminate it. One's intention is irrelevant to taking responisbility for the result of the action. If a person did not want to have the risk of having children they could refrain from sex. When I drive my car I have no intention of causing an accident and I might take steps to reduce the likelihood but if I cause an accident I am still responsible. Are you suggesting that the government step in and force the father to fulfill his obligations? Also, in the case of seperation, if the father has little-to-no parental duties, does he then still have to pay for the child he cannot raise (or see in many cases)? Maxliberty:So the mother and father have obligations to care for the child. What if the father doesn't want the child? He is then at the mercy of the woman.
The obligation is to the child. The father's obligation does not cease regardless of the circumstance or relation with the mother. What the father wants regarding responsibility for his actions is irrelevant. Like I said, this is where many in the freedom movement fail intellectually and why many discussions about freedom ring hollow and are nothing more than a misleading intellectual exercise. First, you have to accept that people have obligations and responsibilities for their actions, then we can discuss what should be done about those who don't fulfill their obligations.
As far as the "government stepping in", I do not propose the government do anything, including breathe.