Did you know that Ouyangdan and I became friends over child support statistics? It’s true. And there are lots of us single parents frustrated and angry because we didn’t get ourselves knocked up but we are buried under the financial burden alone.

It is one of those things I am sadly well versed in. 70 percent of non custodial parents are behind in their child support payments. 70 percent of parents who don’t live with their kids don’t pay their child support on time and/or in the full amount. So far the measly things we have done to get them to pay haven’t worked much (I think pre-Clinton- who enacted the much tougher laws we have now for support collection- the number was closer to 80 percent).

Of those 70 percent of parents not receiving child support, a good number have to turn to the state to get help for our kids. I certainly do. We suck it up, and do what is in our kids’ best interest by applying for food stamps and medicaid and free lunches and TANF money. And in order to receive help we have to sit through 40 hours a week of Work First job training.

So we have all this infrastructure in place to get custodial parents working, even if it means minimum wage jobs with no future. Why don’t we do the same for deadbeat parents? Parents who, for whatever reason, won’t pay for their children should be made to sit through the same 40 hours a week of Work First training. They can be taught how to get a job, how to keep a job, etc. And they will lose the ability to work under the table because they are going to be spending a lot of time in the Welfare office. Make attendance for deadbeats compulsory. If they miss so many days then they can go to jail for contempt.

I really think that is the kind of motivating force we need to change those numbers so that a majority of children get the support they need and that both custodial and non custodial parents get “job training” and take responsibility for their kids.

We already make poor single mothers do it. If it’s good enough for them, why isn’t it good enough for the dads too?