标题：Fathers under Fire: The Revolution in Child Support Enforcement in the USA (This CASEpaper is a summary of the book by the same title and authors, published by the Russel Sage Foundation, 1998)
出版社：Suntory Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines
摘要：In the shadow of rising divorce and non-marital birth rates, nearly twothirds of all American children today will live apart from at least one of their parents, usually the father. Clearly this astonishing proportion of non-resident fathers has serious implications for the economic, employment, and educational status of mothers and the development and wellbeing of children. But according to the authors of Fathers Under Fire, a more comprehensive perspective on non-resident fathers – understanding their capacities and circumstances, acknowledging their responses to policy changes, and recognising their needs -- is essential in order to derive value from the past twenty years of policy change, and to design more effective policies for the future. Fathers Under Fire is intended as a first step toward public policy that reflects the interests of children, families, and society as a whole – by including the diverse perspectives and potential of non-resident fathers. The book traces the recent evolution of child support policy which is shifting the burden of supporting children in single parent families from the public and mothers to non-resident fathers. Fathers Under Fire argues that, as yet, the shift has neither improved the standard of living for mothers and children, nor helped the fathers to be able to meet their obligations. The authors explore the various “side effects” of rigorous enforcement, especially for low-income fathers, finding that 1) a “proportional standard” of support determination would improve compliance without economically crippling those fathers who are already hovering in or near poverty; 2) child support enforcement does seem to reduce the likelihood of both remarriage and subsequent out-ofwedlock births for low-income non-resident fathers; 3) payment of support does tend to coincide (for better and worse) with seeing the children more often, and having more influence in child-rearing decisions. Several research databases are used to analyse and identify promising strategies to improve non-resident fathers’ access to their children. The ethics of various approaches to child support – and the moral complexity of the issues – are discussed by a legal theorist who argues for a legislative process that is “informed by public attitudes and beliefs” about family behaviour. In this spirit, another pair of authors present the voices of fathers themselves, offering their perceptions ofwhat the child support system values (and does not value), and the shame, fear, and resentment that they experience within this system. Beyond policy recommendations for stronger but more reasonable enforcement; incentives for compliance, and strengthened access with preventive services for fathers; the authors also identify several limitations in research that must be remedied, including undercounting or misclassification of a substantial portion of low-income, non-resident fathers, lack of information about the characteristics of non-resident fathers, and a paucity of longitudinal and couple data. In sum, Fathers Under Fire attempts to widen the lens fixed on child support enforcement as a public policy concern. Of course, the interests of mothers and children figure prominently. But the image is only complete if the fathers’ perspectives are also a part of the picture. While the issue has often been cast in black and white – a purely private or wholly public responsibility – this book finds the truth in subtler shades of grey, where the two realms complement each other and “reinforce the social norm that raising healthy and secure children is a shared responsibility.”
