The Custodial Parent – Dad!
Child support in the United States use to be granted to the mother, thinking she would be the better parent. In many cases this is not the case. Men are increasingly getting custody of their children.
It is not only the well to do father that gets custody, a father living at the poverty level or just above it can be granted custody. MKany7 people think that the number of custodial fathers is so small that it is insignificant. There are approximately 1.4 million father only families and 7.4 million mother only families. While the father only families are a smaller portion of the family makeup, they have been growing at a rate faster that mother only families.
Child support policies are often based on two assumptions:
-the mother always receives custody
-the noncustodial parent has the higher income
Child support policy needs to examine what is best for the child and try to establish a plan that will bet support the child in more ways than just financially, Court need to consider the development and emotional well being of the child. There is more to raising a child than financial support and the child needs to be placed with the parent that is best equipped to support the child. If the courts find that Dad is the best fit as a custodial parent, every effort needs to be made to support that determination and collect child support for the child.