Daycare Costs, Financial Hardship, And Child Support: A Perfect Storm For Conflict

Even for married couples, daycare is a frequent source of conflict. The children’s daycare is always in a location that is inconvenient relative to at least one parent’s work. When one parent wants to leave the workforce or to pressure the other into leaving the workforce, they often cite the costs of daycare as an incentive. How many wives have asserted their independence by sending their children to a licensed daycare instead of having their husband’s mother babysit them while the wife works? As every advice columnist will tell you, free childcare is not free. Daycare is an even bigger source of conflict when the parents are divorced and one of them pays child support to the other. How you work it out is unique to each family; for some families, the children go to one daycare during Mom’s parenting time and another during Dad’s parenting time. Other families transfer the children from one parent’s parenting time to the other through daycare drop offs and pickups. For help resolving issues related to the financial aspects of your children’s daycare after your divorce, contact a Birmingham child support lawyer.

Dad Pays for Stepchildren’s Daycare While Mom Cannot Find Full-Time Work Because of Lack of Childcare

The COVID-19 pandemic increased the financial hardships of most families; the people who were able to continue working at their jobs remotely while receiving the same pay were the lucky few; specifically, they were the ones with the cushiest jobs. A pair of twin sisters in Alabama were spared the worst of the pandemic in that none of their closest relatives died of COVID, and the girls were able to return to school quickly after the shutdowns. Despite this, their family suffered financially because of the pandemic.

As with most families, they had been living paycheck to paycheck even before the first case of COVID was diagnosed in Alabama. The father had remarried, and his two stepchildren lived with him and his wife. The father had reduced his work hours so he could attend college, with the goal of increasing his income; he paid for the stepchildren’s daycare. Before the pandemic, the mother had worked at a restaurant, where tips accounted for a large portion of her earnings. During the pandemic, she continued to work there, but her income was reduced, since the restaurant only accepted takeout orders. Therefore, she got a second job at a department store. She could not work full time, and instead had to make do with two part-time jobs, because she could not afford after school care for the twins. The mother and the twins lived with the mother’s parents, because this was all they could afford. Everyone agreed that the situation was untenable, but the father thought he should pay less child support, and the mother thought that the father should pay more.

Contact Peeples Law About the Co-Parenting in Tough Economic Times

A Birmingham family law attorney can help you if you and your ex-spouse are both struggling financially while co-parenting.  Contact Peeples Law in Birmingham, Alabama today to schedule a consultation.

Source:

scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17183261927670289052&q=divorce+bed&hl=en&as_sdt=4,61,62,64&as_ylo=2015&as_yhi=2025