The Case of the Deadbeat Dads

Where are the fathers? That’s the question that increasingly haunts public policy discussions these days--and cries out for an answer.

One in four American children lives with a single mother. Nearly half of those absent fathers give nothing to the support of their children. That condemns a growing number of youngsters to poverty. In fact, one of every five is growing up poor; one in eight is growing up on welfare.

More than half of the children on welfare were born to single mothers, few of whom have been awarded support payments by a court. Even if they were, many of their former boyfriends are unemployed and could not pay.

A third of the children on welfare live with divorced or separated parents. Their mothers, primarily 25 or older and fairly well-educated, now form a major category among welfare recipients. Many could have avoided welfare if their irresponsible husbands had paid child support. One expert estimates that full collection of all child support awards could reduce welfare cases by 20%.

To stanch the epidemic of nonsupport, Congress should pass the bill sponsored by Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.) that would make moving to another state to evade child support a federal crime. Hyde and Rep. Thomas J. Downey, a Democrat from New York, are also working on legislation to make non-payment a federal crime and to empower the Internal Revenue Service to withhold wages and tax refunds. The bill, which is expected to be introduced next year, would also earmark $4 billion to finance a job-training program for unemployed fathers. When they got jobs, child-support payments would be withheld from their pay.

That practice is common in many states if the derelict dads can be found. Massachusetts used computers to collect in one year a record $191.7 million in delinquent child support payments from paychecks, state income tax returns, unemployment checks and workers’ compensation claims. Roughly $70 million was collected from the parents of children on welfare. In California, Gov. Pete Wilson should sign AB 3589 to allow the Franchise Tax Board to collect delinquent child support payments.

In more ways than one, welfare can never adequately replace a father.