Thousands of people get divorced every year. When the divorces involve couples with children, this usually means tragic consequences for the father, who is typically reduced to the role of a visitor in his childrens' lives. This is not only detrimental to the father, but to the children as well, who need frequent and continuing contact with both parents. Studies show that children from fatherless families have higher rates of gang membership, drug use, crime and suicide.
There are two major problems with the system against fathers:
- Despite the age of "political correctness", sexual discrimination is alive and well in the family courts. Mothers are still being favored over fathers when it comes time for the courts to decide child custody. Even mothers who are proven to be unfit (drug users, child abusers) are still getting custody over the protests of the Dads.
- After assigning custody to the mother, the next order of business for the court is child support. Most support awards are unreasonable because they exceed the basic costs of raising the child. And when a mom receives a child support check, she is free to do with it as she pleases, as there is nothing requiring her to account for how the money is spent. Dads who complain that the child support system is unjust are also stereotyped as "deadbeat dads" who don't care about their childrens' well-being.
