I think alot of people are complaining about the parents that avoid working to pay child support (even before the economy).

Been there...Dh lost his job due to cutbacks in the company and was willing to do anything....he was told that he was overqualified for most, didn't have enough experience for jobs outside his field, needed certifications (and if he got them wouldn't be guaranteed the position) or waitlisted at employment agencies. Deadbeat is one thing, but I will not beat up on a person at his lowest...

here here!!

Amen, there are a lot of people with college degrees who can't even get entry level jobs....I could see complaining if they never held a job, but it's serious hard times right now.

It's not easy to find a job right now, that is correct. It's sad, but employers are using the downturn of the economy to their advantage because people are desperate for work. Read this:

http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/01/news/economy/contract_jobs/

herewegoagain, you're so right. I know a few people who are in their 50s and are unemployed and on top of all the regular BS of trying to get a job I think there is some closeted age discrimation going on...

unless you're searching for a job in this economy, you really don't know what's going on...

btw, taking a "burger flipping job" could be to the financial detriment of any dependent children whose parent is receiving CS because chances are if you've got a college degree and had a normal job unemployment, as little as it is, is going to be more than the minimum wage you might make at a burger joint. A burger joint or some other employer that sees you as overqualified is not going to want to hire you anyway because they see you as a liability -- someone who is clearly desperate and will fly the coop when a decent job in their field appears...

Sorry, this is a very sensitive topic...

DH lost his job too, got denied unemployment because his company's CFO is a sneaky bastard. All the jobs he applied for were asking odd hours at low pay which would mean he would miss time, what little time he has, with SD plus get paid shit for it. CS would go up because of less time with SD and its too early in the game to get a "change of circumstances" submitted to the court which is approval is discretionary.

He got another job rather quickly at lower pay but at least he can still adhere to the parenting time and plan. Luckily our BM has been somewhat forgiving.

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the housing crisis murdered my career....... i had an excellent job and got laid off due to downsizing... got another great job, closed the whole division i was working in. got yet another good job, well that division closed down, too..... company dh worked for shut down all together..... so, we're doing what we can and making ends meet ~~ they're not meeting as well as we're used to them meeting, but the bills are getting paid and mouths are getting fed.

i agree finding a decent job these days without special qualifications is freaking hard... but i also think if you're a parent you need to get a job, it may be one "below" you're standards, but some money coming in is better then no money coming in.

and as far as those sorry ass bms who feel entitled to not work and make exh still support them in additon to the skids makes me sick. :sick:

Our 40 year old business is closing down this month because this last year was so bad, so I guess I have a little more sympathy for the people who lost their jobs because I've seen firsthand how bad the economy is....hope to God I can find another job soon.

I think part of the issue is that there are some parents who are trying to find work, & there are those who do everything they can NOT to work. Not all parents who struggle with child support are lazy & sorry. DH has been laid off a couple of times through the housing crisis. His work is limited now & then, due to weather. We are fortunate I have a steady job that thankfully has been untouched by the economy. When he hasn't been able to pay his child support, he hasn't just blown it off. He has asked his supervisor to let him do other things to get enough hours in to cover what he owes...even if it means he still brings home nothing. If he can't get it that way, I take it out of my paycheck. If he were single, though, I'm not sure how he would be able to come up with it.

BM, on the other hand, wasthreatened twice with jail for not paying. The only reason she didn't go to jail was because DH dropped their cases to keep her out. It wasn't that she couldn't come up with the money. $17.26 a week for 2 kids??? She just didn't feel the need to help support her kids. She's sorry & she's lazy.

I see both sides of the argument.

It is so easy to say go geta job at McDonald, but seriously many of those places would rather hire a kid or an immagrant. Our BM's fiancee who was a computer programer got turned down for a job at McDonald. You would think they would want an adult whose first language was english but they don't. My exmanaged a McDonalds & then we later owned two resterants ourselves. He would have hired kids & Mexicans over a white guy any day... ( i don't want this to seem offensive )

BTW neither DH or I are unemployed ( although my job of 7 years almost went away & I am so thankful that I remained part of the reorginization) but it is so easy to judge when you are not the person out there looking.

Thank you Katrinkie, I appreciate the kind words. And I am sorry to hear about yours as well, I hope this gets better soon.

I wouldn't be bashing the deadbeat in my life except for the fact that he holds a CDL. And up until some bs about sleeping with the owners married daughter in March or earlier he had a very decent paying job to meet the $1200 he owes his kids a month. He had since then taken a job making $4/hr less than me and only paying half of what he owes them a month. So, we will be going the garnishment route and then back to jail. Not bash the non-paying NCP my a$$. I don't wish to have the ability to get drunk from 5p to 2a (to presumably be at work at 5a) but to be able to let my teenagers go about with their friends or save it for their cars and college or to be able to go out to dinner and a movie as a family would be a lot less disheartening than knowing we have to pick the important things to get from the grocery, which bills I pay now, which ones I let go, which card to keep tacking a balance onto. Anybody with no concept about my home--we have one working auto and 3 potential drivers. I work from very early in the mornings to later afternoons mon-fri. He is now being bumped to $1500 a month because he is $30K in the hole. There are jobs--not many and surely not suitable to what people think they should have as a job but when a CA tells you that kids have to eat not visit I say get a job and at least contribute to someone you helped bring into the world. It's your choice that you have little to nothing to do with them. When you do not pay for the roof over your head and maybe have $500/mnth in bills you have to pay you've no excuse nt even working FT at McDonald's or Taco Bell (if there was such a thing)would you not be able to meet at least 2/3 of your obligation. So quit punishing them through your wallet. I will breathe easier when my vehicle is paid off and then of course tippy toe until the next windfall but we hsouldn't have to live like that. Grateful I have a job? You bet-we would have nowhere to go otherwise to maintain our current independence. I'm not a money-grubbing BM---ask my kiddos they have as much as I can give them with or without his help because it's not only my job but what I do. Someday there will be time for me and what I want but until then it's quite a bit about them to turn them into productive human beings who will someday either be caring for me in their home or picking out my nursing home and I want it to be a good one

Minimum wage: 280 per week x 4 = 1120 per month

rent in NYC (Bronx) 800 1 bdrm per month (best case scenario)
light. 100 monthly
transportation to and from work: 2.25 each way = 20.00 per week=80 per month
food: let's say 100 per month grocery shopping and this is pushing it
miscellaneous: (soap, dishwasing liquid, laundry) = 100 monthly
total: 1180 monthly

Hmmmmm.... I don't think this leaves enough for child support...but maybe other people have ideas?

I post openings for entry-level jobs when I lose employees, and for the last few year I have people applying for these jobs who were making 60-80k a year and are willing to take 27 to work for me. It's crazy. My manager will interview them and bring me the resumes and I can only think "Jesus, we can't hire this guy, he'd be humiliated to take this job and even if he busts his ass as soon as something better comes along we'll lose him and have to train a new person."

I believe the whole "overqualified" story. I don't hire anyone who is clearly over-qualified. You know they're out looking for a better job and you're just a temporary gig. By the time you order their logo clothes and make their ID badges and have three different employees train them and put them through their certification tests, something in their field comes along and they're long gone because it's better for their family.

I feel awful turning those people away because I know they need jobs, and I end up with a lesser person as an employee, but I keep that lesser person for 3 years when the other guy would be gone in 4 months. Better for the company to send them away...

Anyway the long and the short of it is that it's just amazing what has happened to the job market. I swear I have had people with masters degrees looking for 40k a year jobs. Madness.