I am completely torn on this because everyone has a valid point here with substantial reasoning to back it up. KTM and I have debated this point from either side to the point that emotions tend to get involved and the loss of objectivity moots the entire debate.
A job isn't an entitlement. Thats very clear right now since businesses are paying less and/or they are cutting back on the labor force. That in and of itself really does defeat many arguments/complaints by non-custodial parents, but that doesn't mean the custodian should be allowed to receive unemployment for years to make a living, instead they need to be held accountable.
The point of child support is to ensure that the child is taken care of and laws like this are welcomed and I agree whole heartedly with them as they enforce the responsibility onto the parents. The issue though is that while this is happening there is parental accountability. To say that one parent has the ability to not perform the way they want to just because the other parent is providing so much money is very poorly designed. While child support is a necessity there should be additions to the guidelines that measure a parents ability to parent their child without aid from the other parent, and if this is not the case than the parent needs to be held responsible for that. My point is, we are all adults and whether we think something is fair or not, we made a choice to do it with the other so the responsibility falls on both. If you require something from one side then you MUST require something of equal value from the other.
If a couple is splitting a child 50/50, the assumption should be that each parent provides at home expenses for their side on their own, BUT each side splits extra expenses outside for school, sports, etc. No one can fairly argue that making only one side pay is fair, each person and circumstance is different. In my scenario for example, if I didn’t have to pay child support on top of tuition then my household could afford a second car that we need. So having to pay for half of the tuition at school and a second payment to my ex for child support does in fact, affect my family because we have had only one vehicle for the last 3 years.
Granted, this complaint/suggestion was created from my specific scenario. Bottom line in my opinion is this, if I am being held to a standard than she needs to be regardless of the circumstance and if she is not able to meet or exceed her responsibilities then the courts should evaluate using objectivity what house would be in the best interest for the child. Accountability needs to go both ways, and that is an argument that many people cannot not win. For example, Dad makes 90k a year and the Mom doesn’t care about doing anything more than being a cashier at Walmart because the c/s check is so big. That example should never happen but does all of the time because the way that the guidelines are written. The Mom is care about being ambitious and goal oriented to have a successful life which will translate to the child many negative things, but the Dad could be the custodian because his values would impact the child positively (Granted not everyone circumstance is like this, this is just an example).