Feb. 14, 2019-Myths v. Facts #9

9. Myth: A rebuttable presumption of equal shared parenting would impact on child support for stay at home mothers.

Facts:

I. Under the current child support paradigm shared parenting resulting in off-setting support would have a negligible impact on the net amount of child support paid to a stay-at-home parent. While a family is intact the children are supported by the joint resources and incomes of both parents. There is no reason why that should not continue to be the case post-separation.

II. Appropriate allowance for the overhead (food, shelter, clothing) provided by the payor parent is a social justice issue and enhances the children’s experience during the time they are with that parent. There is social injustice and an impaired ability to support the children in situations where a payor parent who has less than 40% of the time with the children is paying child support to a parent who earns way more.

III. The best interest of the children trump any concern over child support, which is a separate issue that could be addressed, however, there is a settled policy in this regard under section 9 of the Child Support Guidelines and the related jurisprudence. There is no empirical or jurisprudential evidence that shared parenting child support arrangements do not work today.

Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights on Bill C-78 by the Canadian Association for Equality and Brian Ludmer, B.Comm, LLB. – Myths and Facts Concerning a Rebuttable Presumption of Equal Shared Parenting, 27 November 2018

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