A politician by the name of Eleanor Roosevelt once proclaimed, “In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” Being a parent bears a multitude of significant responsibilities and duties, none of which are more essential then providing financial support for their children. Under the Family Law Act of Ontario, parents have a legal obligation to financially support their children who are considered to be a minor or are enrolled in a full time program of education. In addition, it is necessary that parents recognize the duty to provide financial support for their child must be upheld in all circumstances including during a breakdown of the partnership, known as divorce. In order to ensure equitable sharing of parental responsibilities after divorce, the provincial government of Ontario along with the courts legislate a reasonable child support payment order which takes into account various financial factors for the parent which no longer has full custody over their child.
Thesis (Central argument with main points):
While some parents have neglected an important obligation to support their children financially, the Family Responsibility Office has not been aggressively enforcing the Child Support Laws of Ontario and as a result children as well as single parents are unjustly left suffering a substantially lower quality of life. The significant consequences experienced by single mothers and children as a result of self centered deadbeats include such aspects as living in an impoverished state as well as having children endure the negative sociological effects of abandonment. Therefore, it is essential for the Family Re...
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...llion dollars in December of 2009.” With more than sixteen thousand complainants directed towards the organization throughout the year, Marin described the main concern Ontarians had with the FRO which was the lack of due diligence and attention to detail employees took. An example of this government organizations careless approach was made evident in a finding where a single mother of three was forced to go on welfare because of the lack of payments and latter found out the FRO had mistakenly wiped out a debt of more than $60,000 in child support owed by her ex-husband.
Supporting sentence:
Due to a lack of perseverance, the Family of Responsibility has failed to enforce complex child support cases, leaving single mothers to unjustly suffer the financial consequences which deadbeats create. In addition, the Ontario government is drastically falling behind
The search for a permanent position is near impossible, Mirsky says, “even your lower-paying fast-food jobs are now doing background check... How can I pay child support if I can’t get a job (Appelbaum, 2015)?” His case is not unique, according the records presented
...these flaws sets new proposal to new opportunities to everyone. To a certain degree, American society supports motherhood in ways where it is effective to the problems. It is apparent that there are times where they aren’t providing people the right resources. It seems like less people have the proper help, which explains the amount of limitations we are being set to.
Why am I Poor? First Nations Child Poverty in Ontario. Canada: Best Start Resource Center,
In their article Doug Hillian and Marge Reitsma- Street examines parents’ involvement in the youth criminal justice system in Western Canada. Their study was conducting on ten Caucasian families nine of which were middle and upper middle class, with sons, involved in the Juvenile Criminal Justice System. The study was to determine the parents place in the judicial system, which appears to make it more arduous for parents, attempting to deal with the difficult task of parenting young offenders, while navigating a system, which labels, blames, and assumes that as parents they are unfit, irresponsible, and uncaring.
The amount of child support cases in arrears would decline if a few things were changed, hopefully providing incentives to pay child support on time and regularly. There are also harsher consequences that could be carried out to prevent future mistakes. There are things being done, but is it enough? As it stands the noncustodial parent can face loss of visitation, probation, and even jail time for none payment of child support. By not enforcing court ordered child support and making examples out of those who are not in compliance, we are sending out a message that child support is more of an option than a legal obligation. Think about the ones who are really suffering here, the children involved.
In Mary’s household, her two sons and daughter are dependent on her. Mary is head of the household and is currently going through a divorce. Mary is close to losing her house, car, and internet services. She hires babysitters for the days/nights that she has to work. Her children know that times are tough, and continuously encourage their mother. However, her son Quinn is dealing with the divorce and poor living in
Karen Bridget Murray’s article, “Governing ‘Unwed Mothers’ in Toronto at the Turn of the Twentieth Century”, is a valuable reference into the struggles and triumphs of social welfare for unwed mothers. For me the article highlighted how government ideologies influence social welfare, how important the change from religious reformers practices to social work was and finally how appalling it is that the struggles and barriers these women faced are still relevant to single mothers today.
In America, poverty has been on the rise since the 1970's.(Poverty World Book 723). The family structure has been constantly changing. The presence of a father in the family effects the poverty rate. The presence of a father in the family was higher when the poverty rate was formed. The family is four times more likely not to have a father in it today than it was in the 1950's. (Report Ties 3). Without a father in the family the chance for children to become poor and eventual...
The social problem underlying childcare in Canada is the operation of childcare providing agencies. Most agencies in the childcare sector operate illegally without approval of the respective government agencies such as the state or the federal government. The death of a two-year-old girl in Vaughan, Ontario was a revelation on how illegal daycare homes could be of serious consequences to the lives of many children. After the Vaughan incident, it was clear that Canada needed an elaborate childcare policy and universal program that prioritize the safety and well-being of children in childcare agencies. Childcare in Canada is also a social problem in a manner with which families handle the matter. The poor outcomes fr...
Divorce is becoming a worldwide phenomenon, significantly affecting children’s well-being. It radically changes their future, causing detrimental effects. According to (Julio Cáceres-Delpiano and Eugenio Giolito, 2008) nearly 50% of marriages end with divorce. 90% of children who lived in the USA in the 1960s stayed with their own biological parents, whereas today it makes up only 40% (Hetherington, E. Mavis, and Margaret Stanley-Hagan, 1999). Such an unfavorable problem has been increasing, because in 1969, the California State Legislature changed the divorce laws, where spouses could leave without providing cause (Child Study Center, 2001).
Divorce is a heavy concept that has many implications for those involved. The situation becomes even more consequential when children are considered. As divorce has become more commonplace in society, millions of children are affected by the separation of the nuclear family. How far-reaching are these effects? And is there a time when divorce is beneficial to the lives of the children? This paper will examine some of the major research and several different perspectives regarding the outcomes of divorce for the children involved, and whether it can actually be in the best interest of the kids.
“Ninety percent of single-parent families are headed by females. Not surprisingly, single mothers with dependent children have the highest rate of poverty across all demographic groups” (Olson & Banyard, 1993, p. 50-56). “Approximately 60 percent of U.S. children living in mother-only families are impoverished, compared with only 11 percent of two-parent families. The rate of poverty is even higher in African-American single-parent families, in which two out of every three children are poor” (Kirby, n.d., Single-parent Families in Poverty section, para.2).
Everyone has a family, rather it is with your biological relatives or long-time friends. A lot of people have been raised in different types of households rather it is with a grandparent or a foster parent. Everyone has their own individual story of their particular support system. In most cases, people have been raised with both parents, which is ideal in this society. As years gone by, a lot of changes have occurred within raising a family, whether it be getting raised by a LGBT couple or being raised by a sibling. The most common change that has occurred is single-parenting. A lot of children are being raised by either just their mother or father. In most cases, the mother is the single parent. Being a single parent can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. In this essay, I will explain the ups and downs that come with being a single-parent.
Not only are there personal issues, there are social issues as well. For example, adolescent mothers are less likely to receive child support from biological fathers, less likely to work, and less likely to be able to provide for themselves and children without outside assistance (Coard, 2000). It is well documented that teenage mothers do not acquire as much education as teens who delay childbearing, therefore they are less likely to find stable employment and more likely to rely on public assistance, thus perpetuating the cycle of poverty. In fact one half of teen mothers go on welfare within a year and 77% within five years of the birth of a child (Corcoran, 1999). While teenagers make up less than 8% of the welfare caseload, 43% of long-term recipients gave birth for the first time when they were 17 years old or younger (Harris, 1998). As of Spring 1999 the estimated cost of society subsidizing these births is 20 billion dollars (Kellogg, 1999).
2. Dowd, Nancy. In Defense Of Single Parent Families. New York: New York University, 1997