Canada’s child support laws often burden men more than the actual costs of raising children , says Christopher Sarlo, an economics professor at Nipissing University in North Bay, Ont..Sarlo became familiar with the subject after facing custody and support issues himself. In a 2014 paper he penned for the Fraser Institute, he said the federal support guidelines were based on “a number of unrealistic assumptions that made them unfair.” He called them “gender-biased,” adding they “favour mothers at every turn and are punitive to fathers” and “promote discord and litigation.”.The Department of Justice made its formula in 1997 following consultation with social policy advocacy groups. Its formula assumed the first child added 40% to household costs and each additional child added 30%. Sarlo reports the analyses available even then showed this model was only accurate when both parents had identical incomes and remained single after their split. .Another analysis for the DOJ suggested for most single-parent families, the first child adds 25% to costs, the second 13%, and the third 15%. In 2004 a report by the DOJ found that in 90% of cases contested in court, it was the father paying child support..Sarlo told the Western Standard those who attempt reforms get resistance. He wonders if the reason may be that women’s rights groups and others feel it’s an appropriate response to historic wrongs in society..“They feel maybe the current guidelines and the current divorce law and so on, has redressed what they might have considered to be things working the other way. And no doubt, if we go back 50 years or more, I think a case could be made that it was a man’s world in that sense. So, I think that there’s resistance there and concern that this might be seen as backpedaling on something,” Sarlo said..“However, I just don’t understand why, in the light of what I’ve written and the many challenges at lower court levels, why that wouldn’t be enough to just say, look, take another look at this in a fair-minded way and see if there’s some things we can change.”.The Divorce Act says child support “guidelines shall be based on the principle that spouses have a joint financial obligation to maintain the children of the marriage in accordance with their relative abilities to contribute to the performance of that obligation.” .Sarlo says the support guidelines run contrary to those goals and in his report and says when the Divorce Act was passed, parliamentarians did not yet know what formula would end up being implemented. .During the Harper majority government, Saskatoon MP Maurice Vellacott introduced private member’s Bill C-560 to make 50-50 parenting the default for custody cases, unless either side “established that the best interests of the child would be substantially enhanced by allocating parenting time or parental responsibility other than equally.”.MPs defeated the bill 80-174..Sarlo would welcome another attempt at this legislative change. .“Equal parenting just solves so many problems. There’s issues with the financial side of things, but in terms of the children, that’s the most important thing. Men care about the children they have, and they want to maintain a good relationship,” he said..“I’ve talked to lawyers who are almost sick to their stomach after many years of family law, and basically either going into another area of law or going into mediation. They just can’t take the human suffering that goes on in the courtroom when they have to represent someone who they may find despicable,” he said..“There’s all the bickering and the children are left with suffering because they know that this is going on in the background. And it’s just so awful… Why can’t we simply tell children: ‘Your mom and dad have divorced, they love you equally, and you’re going to share the time approximately equally’?”.Lee Harding is a Western Standard contributor from Saskatchewan.
Canada’s child support laws often burden men more than the actual costs of raising children , says Christopher Sarlo, an economics professor at Nipissing University in North Bay, Ont..Sarlo became familiar with the subject after facing custody and support issues himself. In a 2014 paper he penned for the Fraser Institute, he said the federal support guidelines were based on “a number of unrealistic assumptions that made them unfair.” He called them “gender-biased,” adding they “favour mothers at every turn and are punitive to fathers” and “promote discord and litigation.”.The Department of Justice made its formula in 1997 following consultation with social policy advocacy groups. Its formula assumed the first child added 40% to household costs and each additional child added 30%. Sarlo reports the analyses available even then showed this model was only accurate when both parents had identical incomes and remained single after their split. .Another analysis for the DOJ suggested for most single-parent families, the first child adds 25% to costs, the second 13%, and the third 15%. In 2004 a report by the DOJ found that in 90% of cases contested in court, it was the father paying child support..Sarlo told the Western Standard those who attempt reforms get resistance. He wonders if the reason may be that women’s rights groups and others feel it’s an appropriate response to historic wrongs in society..“They feel maybe the current guidelines and the current divorce law and so on, has redressed what they might have considered to be things working the other way. And no doubt, if we go back 50 years or more, I think a case could be made that it was a man’s world in that sense. So, I think that there’s resistance there and concern that this might be seen as backpedaling on something,” Sarlo said..“However, I just don’t understand why, in the light of what I’ve written and the many challenges at lower court levels, why that wouldn’t be enough to just say, look, take another look at this in a fair-minded way and see if there’s some things we can change.”.The Divorce Act says child support “guidelines shall be based on the principle that spouses have a joint financial obligation to maintain the children of the marriage in accordance with their relative abilities to contribute to the performance of that obligation.” .Sarlo says the support guidelines run contrary to those goals and in his report and says when the Divorce Act was passed, parliamentarians did not yet know what formula would end up being implemented. .During the Harper majority government, Saskatoon MP Maurice Vellacott introduced private member’s Bill C-560 to make 50-50 parenting the default for custody cases, unless either side “established that the best interests of the child would be substantially enhanced by allocating parenting time or parental responsibility other than equally.”.MPs defeated the bill 80-174..Sarlo would welcome another attempt at this legislative change. .“Equal parenting just solves so many problems. There’s issues with the financial side of things, but in terms of the children, that’s the most important thing. Men care about the children they have, and they want to maintain a good relationship,” he said..“I’ve talked to lawyers who are almost sick to their stomach after many years of family law, and basically either going into another area of law or going into mediation. They just can’t take the human suffering that goes on in the courtroom when they have to represent someone who they may find despicable,” he said..“There’s all the bickering and the children are left with suffering because they know that this is going on in the background. And it’s just so awful… Why can’t we simply tell children: ‘Your mom and dad have divorced, they love you equally, and you’re going to share the time approximately equally’?”.Lee Harding is a Western Standard contributor from Saskatchewan.
