Paying to Stay Home: On Competing Notions of Fairness and the Imputation of Income

RECONCEIVING THE FAMILY, Robin Fretwell Wilson, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2006

Posted: 9 Aug 2006

See all articles by Mark Strasser

Mark Strasser

Capital University - Law School

Abstract

The ALI Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution offer a number of considerations to be taken into account when deciding child support issues. This chapter focuses on one kind of case - when income should be imputed to a stay-at-home parent - to illustrate some of the competing interests and rationales which are involved in such decisions. The chapter suggests that while the goals and considerations cited by the ALI are eminently sensible, there is a remarkable looseness of fit between these goals and considerations on the one hand and the actual recommendations on the other. This is regrettable. Because the difficult decisions will not involve whether to consider these competing interests and rationales but how heavily to weigh them, the ALI has offered no helpful guidance to jurisdictions deciding whether or how to modify their child-support policies.

Keywords: child support, stay-at-home parent, income imputation, shirking, public policy

JEL Classification: J12, J13, J22, K10

Suggested Citation

Strasser, Mark, Paying to Stay Home: On Competing Notions of Fairness and the Imputation of Income. RECONCEIVING THE FAMILY, Robin Fretwell Wilson, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=923361

Mark Strasser (Contact Author)

Capital University - Law School ( email )

303 E. Broad St.
Columbus, OH 43215-3200
United States
614-236-6686 (Phone)
614-236-6956 (Fax)

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