I was disappointed to see that you ran the Wednesday, Jan. 21 column by Froma Harrop blaming absentee fathers for declining birth rates.
Harrop erroneously conflates unpaid child support with a lack of father involvement. Studies find that the majority of fathers who live separately from their children are actively and meaningfully involved in their lives. This is especially true as parenting culture now promotes 50/50 custody arrangements, and a dozen states have passed laws making equal parenting time the legal presumption.
Research finds that fathers want to pay child support but cannot afford to. Harrop leans on the “deadbeat dad” trope, while contemporary families know these men are good fathers who are—like their female co-parents — dead broke.
Moms understand what decades of social science shows: Parenting is more valuable than child support payments. Low-income single mothers increasingly choose not to file for child support, telling surveys that they do not believe payments are fair to fathers who care for and financially support their kids.
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Emma Johnson
Downtown
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