The other day a friend of mine over heard this on the el train:
I should just get pregnant and get child support so I won’t have to work any more.
Now my friend swears that the person sounded serious. Assuming that they were, unless you are tricking Bill Gates or Michael Jordan in to being your baby Daddy, you are likely wasting your time.
Child support for one child is 20% of the non-custodial parent’s take home pay. Nothing in Illinois law says that the Mom gets primary custody, but even if they do, 20% just isn’t that much.
If the Dad makes $80,000 a year, you can anticipate that he’ll get around $50,000 after taxes. 20% of that amounts to around $200 a week.
Does an extra $200 a week seem like enough to live off of when you also have to actually take care of the baby. Even if they make double that and you are getting $400 a week, is that really worth it?
Nothing can make either parent actually be a parent. I know that I’d rather not be a single Dad if I could avoid it. Kids are great and also a ton of work. Not having someone there to help you through it certainly isn’t worth the extra cash in your pocket.
Beyond all of that, you shouldn’t assume that the Dad will actually cooperate in paying you. If they are working a cash job you’ll probably have to pay a lawyer out of your own pocket to actually get support.
People have un-planned pregnancies all of the time and I salute them for keeping the baby. I’m sure all of those Moms love their child. But I’m also sure that if having a kid is their way of financially planning for the future, they won’t be thrilled with their choice 18 years later.
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