Why do men have to pay such a high amount of Child Support?

Question

I understand that Support is necessary for children but why do men have to pay so much?

Answer 1

What do you consider "so much"? Per the source article, in 2013 was predicted to cost a couple $245,000 to raise a child from birth to age 18. That's a little over $13,611 a year, or $1134 and some change, per month. Half that would be just over $567 for ONE child. Most non-custodial parents don't have to pay that much in child support, some pay it or more (but remember that total is an average, for a middle income couple. Many people will pay more than that to raise a child, many will pay less.



How much child support (dollars) were you considering to be 'so much'? Also understand that in cases where the male parent has primary custody, the other parent pays child support and the amount is based on income, not gender.

Answer 2

After divorce, whoever has custody gets paid child support. The mother is awarded custody in most cases, unless there's some compelling legal reason not to. So the father usually ends up paying support. The amount has to do with many factors, including how much each parent makes. If there's a big difference between incomes, the one who makes more ends up footing almost the full cost of raising the child.



Think of the parents' combined monthly income as a pie. When they were married, the dad put in 8 slices and the mom put in 4. Every month, they take out 4 slices to pay for the kids' clothes, school, food, child care, and their portion of the household expenses (rent, electric, heat, etc.).



So after the divorce, the dad takes his 8 slices away but leaves the kids behind in the house with the mom, who's only earning 4 slices a month. She can't very well use all 4 slices to pay for the kids, because she needs almost all of that just to care for her own expenses. So the divorce settlement will require dad to pay 3 and 1/2 slices a month, and the mom will have to come up with the other 1/2 slice on her own. Make sense?

Answer 3

Not technically just men. It's the parent who works full time and cannot spend most of the week providing in person care to your children who usually pays child support. All you have to do is prove you can personally watch your kids more than the other parent early in the custody process. Most men are not willing to give up their careers to do this.



You pay a lot only at higher incomes where the percentage can convert into absurd amounts of money. Otherwise, child care is expensive, and the other parent usually ends up taking a lower paying job in order to be available to watch their kids.

Answer 4

Child support is determined largely by differences in pay, amount of visitation time, and number of children. In Wisconsin, there is a program called the MacDavis Calculator that takes everything into account and determines how much child support and/or maintenance one spouse should pay the other when getting divorced. Usually the reason why men may pay more or more often than not is because they make more money and have less visitation time than their exes.

Answer 5

Children are very expensive to raise.

You contributed half of the genetic material to make the child, so legally you are responsible to help support it.



As for HOW much, that depends on how much YOU make.

Generally the Courts figure that the children's lifestyle should not suffer just because the parents broke up. So if you make a lot of money, you pay a lot of Child Support. It is anticipated that if you had the children you would b spending money on them and the richer you are, the more you would be spending on them.



It is not just men. When the woman is not the custodial parent, SHE pays Child Support that is relative to her earnings.

Answer 6

It depends on where you live, typically support it equal to a certain percentage of a person's wage check which differs between the amount you make. Obviously someone whom is eligible for a 40% wage tax deduction anyway is going to pay much more than someone on 20% or someone whom isn't eligible for tax e.g. under 18, under a certain financial bracket, receipt of benefits, etc.



The more the earns, the more he pays for the child. It would apply the same to a woman if she were under court order to pay child support but typically this doesn't happen.

Answer 7

I paid child support for years 28% of my gross pay



even paying out his amount, it was not much different than when we all lived together

sure it is a lot of money when you think about it, but, think about it, if you were in their lives before the split, you are still paying about the same as you were when all together

the hard part is it needs to be paid every week, not like when together you can wait until next week to buy new shoes,

Answer 8

I personally see some issues with how child support is currently configured. Of course children need support.. but is the 20-30% of income really appropriate? Isn't the other spouse still supposed to be contributing half also? If you add up the monthly costs and divide it by two.. that is more reasonable. Ladies that get support.. if you feel the support is appropriate.. just try to imagine for one moment with your current income if the tables were turned and you were asked to supply that same amount of income to your ex. Does that amount still seem "reasonable" to you??

Answer 9

too much I got a total of $13 one month not even enough to replace a pair of worn out shoes for one kid I had 3. In most states it can be up to 50% of income but I never saw it. I think it should be a set amount % wise all over the country so before a divorce a person will know what will be expected.

Answer 10

In my country, Germany, men have to pay a certain percentage of their income as child support, and if that shouldn't be enough, the state pays additional support to the mother, but, and here's the catch, only as a loan to the father. Think about a divorced father who is jobless and still has to pay 400 euros a month as child support by state loan; after a year, he's deeply in debt with 4,800 euros. For that, he maybe (and only may be!) has the right to meet his child twice a month for a day or two.



German legislation, by the word, gives mothers and fathers equal rights, but common practice is that the children stay with their mother, no matter what arguments the father brings about. Maybe in a decade or two, this practice will change.

Answer 11

My son pays $3,500 a month for two kids. He's broke after that but he wants his kids in a decent home in a good school district with the opportunity to have music lessons and extra-curricular activities. And, where they live, that's what it costs. So he makes the personal sacrifices necessary for that to happen.



There are other men who are furious if asked to help their kids live above poverty level. And go into hiding to avoid it.



There IS a table of income and expectations that many courts follow. My son pays a good deal more on purpose. Many pay less. The minimum is not "so much" at all. It's poverty level. Many guys just resent like crazy that they have to pay a dime for the ramifications of their own choices.

Answer 12

From a pure financial decision...having a child is a horrible financial decision. Yes, you get benefits in other areas but it is a strain on finances...among other things like the relationship between husband/wife. I love my daughter more than anything but the $1,000 a month I pay for child support has me back living with my parents in my late 30s.



Yeah...it sucks! But not much can be done about it.

Answer 13

I don't. My offspring was 18 in August and according to technicalities regarding education, I am no longer required to pay for her. It's amazing, thats my gas and electric bill paid with money to spare now. No more strangers from dysfunctional relationships, who don't even care I exist leeching me dry. I suppose they will have to cut back on their ipods and ski-trips to Norway now. I know this doesn't address your question, I just had to tell someone. Men have to pay so much because they must be punished for being so selfish and hardwired to procreate, even though it takes two to tango... they must also pay so much because they were too stupid to use protection at the time, assuming the other partner was on birth control





No but seriously it depends on your earnings and country of residence too

Answer 14

Not always. It more depends on your salary and what a judge decides you can afford to pay. But if the mother is making good money, she needs to meet her ex halfway and it's a 50/50 split. I know this all too well because I've been there, done that. Hope this helps? Good luck

Answer 15

They don't. A man only pays a lot if he earns a lot, based on the idea that a child should enjoy close to the same standard of living as his or her parents.

Answer 16

Because they are just as responsible for the life they participated in creating as the woman. Both parents share that responsibility and being a deadbeat makes a man less than a man. Kids are expensive and it doesn't matter if the couple breaks up. BOTH parents are responsible for taking care of their progeny. Even if it means you have to take a second job to do it. That's what good parents do.

Answer 17

I know many men who are required by law to provide far more money in child support after divorce than they did as a married father and of course this payment goes directly to the mother, and may not be used for the child. I know one woman who lived off the "child support" We live in a gynocentric culture. Get used to it.

Answer 18

The children didnt ask to be brought into this world. You have the chance to or not. Even if its a divorce after 10 years. Its not the children fault. At least give them a chance in life. Not have the mother working so much to afford a place to live in, while the guys goes off and starts a new life.

Answer 19

In case you haven't noticed, children are expensive. And it's not just men who pay child support. Women do too these days.

Answer 20

If you aren't spending $200/week for each child you support then the child doesn't have everything it needs to live. Mothers who abuse this money is the real problem.

Answer 21

It is based on personal income so the more you make the more you have to payout its just the law. Plus in general raising a child these days is not a cheap endeavor. This is why many couples are saying no to kids.

Answer 22

the cost of raising a child is not cheap*...there is a law of child support payments based on how much a person makes.. you can go to the link below and it will show how much you are to pay per child....It doesn't matter if you're the Man or the Woman that has to pay the child support it is based on how much you earn~*



http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/fl-df/child-enfant/look-rech.asp

Answer 23

Same reason moms pay so much to raise the child. Courts don't pull the amount from the air.

Answer 24

everything seems to be about money this day in age most people assume sprinkle money on everything makes the problem go away children don't need money they need someone to be there for them because people are stubborn they want there own way all people have to do is come to agreement about what's best for the child how difficult can that be

Answer 25

It's not male or female specific - the person who pays the child support is the non-custodial parent. Usually that is the man, true, but sometimes it's the mother.

Answer 26

because the government doesn't want to be the one to pay so they use the man as a cash line. Somebody has to support them or there would be millions of woman and children on the streets

Answer 27

It depends on your income and your situation. If the husband had custody of the kids and was working fulltime, while his wife was working a good job fulltime, she'd be paying a significant amount to the husband.

Answer 28

It is unfair especially when the mom gets to sit on her butt & not work. Child support laws do need to change & make both parents equally responsible (financial & otherwise) for the child.

Answer 29

People - male or female - have an obligation to help support their children. Kids aren't cheap.

Answer 30

Raising children is expensive. Men who don't want to support their children should not father them in the first place.

Answer 31

Because women are incapable of properly caring for children without extensive help from men .



The nature of the family court bias is all the proof anyone needs .

Answer 32

Dear Buddy,



The things are no different for any of the countries in the world. It is a clear wrong perception and this goes on to show that the law makers do not have rational approach.



Thanks, Warm Regards, Jai Hind & May GOD Bless

Answer 33

because it costs a lot to keep a child alive and thriving in today's world. It is your child you are supposed to support it and not on a sub poverty leval

Answer 34

Because kids suck.



They whine, cry, selfish, and they suck all the money from your paycheck through daycare expenses, clothes, shoes, food, books, school supplies, etc.



You are better off getting a vasectomy. It's money well spent.

Answer 35

Because that's your child

Answer 36

Because it is also your child. You have a responsibility for the child's well-being.

Answer 37

More importantly why doesn't he get joint custody and pay not support, and be a dad dad and not fun uncle dad.

Answer 38

Because raising children is expensive. If not paid by the parents, who do you think should pay?

Answer 39

because they are stupid for getting caught in the first place. now you will pay for 20 years for a few minutes of snotty crotch pleasure. the girl laughs all the way to the bank.

Answer 40

I wouldn't pay a dime of child support. Come arrest me if you don't like it!

Answer 41

Because men need to.

Answer 42

Because men don't get pregnant.

Answer 43

It has nothing to do with gender. Why is every man in this section so anti-woman?

Answer 44

i think it should be like this after all the man who is the one who is always working and may be the most responsible for what he have done and if you are not confident then do not do that again ^^

Answer 45

That question is like saying "how long is a piece of string?"

Answer 46

duh, because it takes a lot to support a child. the avg amount to raise a kid to 18 is 300,000 or 16,600 a year or 320 a week.

Answer 47

I THINK THEY FACTOR IN OTHER THINGS FOR THE MOTHER TOO. NOT JUST STUFF FOR THE CHILDREN. I THINK ITS ABSURD BUT THOSE MTHERS USE PARTS OF THAT MONEY TO SUPPORT THEMSELVES. THEY SHOULD JUST HAVE THE MAN PAY THE BILLS DIRECTLY FOR THE CHILD. SCHOOL TUITION CHECK, DOCTORS APPOINTMENT, WINTER COAT ETC..

Answer 48

Just

Answer 49

Depends on the situation really

Answer 50

political correctness

Answer 51

In the UK, it is based on income

Answer 52

i got one word for you bankruptcy

Answer 53

because dipshit their your kids too

Answer 54

they make too much money.

Answer 55

ok