Statutory rape victim owes more than $15,000 in child suppor

[2xx1xy1JD]

The cost of raising a kid SHOULD be more than the child support. The custodial parent needs to be on the hook for some of the costs too. A lot of times people think that child support should cover 100%, or it's not enough.

A friend's ex lives in a house owned by her parents. Her parents provide all childcare, and since she doesn't work, she gets food stamps. The child support she gets doesn't go to the child.

I'd say my own kids add maybe $500 a month in expenses over my husband and I if we were living without kids. The kids want for nothing. If my husband and I split and I got majority custody at 51%, I'd get $1200 according to the dissomaster used to determine support. It's very easy for child support to exceed 100% of the cost of raising a kid. Since half the cost of that $500 should be mine, that's a net gain of $950 over my own obligation, even though they'd be with their dad a good chunk of the month.

Each state and country is different and I don't want to give legal advice over the internet. Suffice it to say that online support calculators are of limited use. For example, where I live, 51% is NOT considered majority custody, but would be called shared parenting.

It's not the primarily obligation of grandparents or the state to support children. It's great that those resources are there, but the parents still have the primary responsibility. If the state is paying out money to support a family, they have the right to recoup child support.

There's no magical reason that all child expenses would be split 50/50 between the parents. Women, on average, earn less than men, and are more likely to have had their careers interrupted due to childbearing and childrearing. Intact families consider that with their spending all the time - if mom makes $25K and dad makes $50K, kids get the benefit of living in a household with $75K total household income.