Fathers' Rights: The Sourcebook for Dealing with the Child Support System

Child support in its legal and emotional complexities is explored here by an executive on the National Council of Child Support Administrators. Addressed to separated or divorced fathers and stepfathers who may not be fully informed about the child support system, this comprehensive guide indicts both society and welfare programs. In most cases, the author questionably maintains, the father is unjustly identified as a villain by feminists who lobby for tougher laws and higher payments and turn child support into ``a huge collection machine.'' Aspects of the national child support enforcement program--i.e., presumption of paternity, garnished wages, etc.--are discussed. The program, according to Conine, is ``big business,'' with 29,000 employees handling 10 million cases and collecting $4 billion annually. The author glibly condemns the system as the ``bad guy,'' arguing that the absentee father cannot ``pay enough to solve the problem of poverty in single-parent households.'' (May)