Most of the Unpaid Child Support Owed is Owed by Poor Fathers

70% of the unpaid child support nationally is owed by fathers who are pretty much poor and it is largely a myth that men of all economic brackets are just deciding to not pay child support at the same rates. So in essence the Child Support Enforcement agencies often serve the creation of debtor's prisons for fathers:

"About 70 percent of the debt is owed by men who earn $10,000 a year or less, or have no recorded wage earnings at all, according to the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement. Less than 4 percent is owed by men with incomes of more than $40,000.

And the poorer men are getting caught in a vicious circle. Their debts have become obstacles to getting licenses for jobs to help them produce wages to pay down the debts.

Recent research by the Urban Institute, a think tank in Washington, found that aggressive collection of debts played a crucial role in pushing low-income black men ages 25 to 34 out of lawful employment, the opposite effect policy makers might have desired."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/19/nyregion/19support.html?pagewanted=print&position=&_r=0