[mbs] Underpayment of awarded child support is huge, even though the awards themselves are grossly inadequate. This is pretty important. The main obstacle to better outcomes is the failure of state governments to coordinate enforcement, which stems from 'states rights' politics (don't go interfering in our splendid state judicial system).
My sister-in-law is owed about $40K, not counting ten year's worth of interest by her ex. He's in a different state. The IRS managed to nail him once by snatching his tax refund, but since then nothing. Dealing with the state gov of his residence (FL) has been a gross exhaustion of time and effort.
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Neoliberals invoked a feminist-sounding argument: we should make men pay,
instead of having women & children dependent on the state. I don't think
this is a progressive argument at this point in history, though. The same
for household labor, I think. I'd rather *socialize it in a non-gendered
fashion* (and/or leave it undone to the extent it's possible), rather than
keep it private and try to divide it equally between genders, as Ehrenreich
has it. Better Engels than Ehrenreich.
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[mbs] Looks like you're to my right on this one, feminist-wise. Why should the state subsidize irresponsible behavior by men?
mbs