Child Support Remains One’s Primary Duty

Arkansas has long been among the poorer states in the Union, but as Southerners, residents have prided themselves as people who do the right thing, who know how to treat others and who live up to their obligations.

We’re also a state with 36 percent of its children in single-parent families. That’s what makes the concept of child support so crucial. When relationships turn sour after producing offspring, the honorable thing to do is make sure, to the best of one’s ability, that the damage to the children is kept to a minimum. One can always hope that means adults behaving like adults.

Unfortunately, there is ample evidence that too many Arkansans fail miserably as parents, especially when it comes to financial support. On May 19, a report in these pages demonstrated the size of the problem: In Benton and Washington counties, the amount of financial support owed to children amounts to a whopping $56.52 million.

The numbers within the two counties are staggering: 6,425 cases of owed child support; an average of $8,400 owed in Washington County; an average of $9,300 owed in Benton County; and the highest amount owed in a single case totals $163,595. Those numbers come from the Child Support Enforcement Office of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.

A massive percentage of cases involve parents who were never married, suggesting one more piece of evidence that a traditional two-parent family delivers the most stability when it comes to children. Of course, there is no guarantee a marriage will survive, but it’s easy to believe a long-term commitment to one’s children is more likely in that circumstance.

Let no one believe we’re casting aspersions on never-married parents, however. Those single adults devoted to raising their children well and working hard to do it deserve great respect. Many would say, however, in an honest moment, that life would be easier with a supportive spouse to help carry the load.

But life happens. Things don’t work out as planned. And that’s where child support comes in. The vast majority of nonpayers — deadbeats, some have called them — are men, although some are women. Regardless, we’d say this: Man up and take care of your business.

It’s tiring to hear those who owe money rail against “the system,” apparently viewing their payment as some unfair obligation to the state. It’s not; it’s a moral obligation to one’s child. Or the gripes about how one’s ex is spending the money. Too bad, fella. What’s owed is owed. If you’ve got problems with that, see a judge.

We know, we know. There’s a lot of talk on another hot-button issue about it being a woman’s body and her personal decision, helping to drive a culture that sees the man as some sort of uninvolved bystander. That’s a debate for another day. Today, the message is clear: Once the little bundle of joy arrives, the two who tangoed owe nothing less that complete devotion to the raising of the child. Anything less is failure of the most inhumane sort.

Paying child support isn’t punishment for a relationship gone wrong. It’s a privilege of parenthood arrived at through less-than-ideal circumstances. We are thankful for the honorable Arkansans who live up to their obligations, and urge those now shirking their duty to retake the mantle of responsible parenthood.

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