THE deadbeat dad is the reigning villain of our contemporary fatherhood script. His visage, framed by a “Wanted” poster, makes the cover of Newsweek: “Deadbeat Dads: Wanted for Failure to Pay Child Support.” At the Child Guidance Center in Akron, Ohio, a little girl writes this imaginary letter to her dad: “Dear Dad, I wish you the worst Father’s Day ever. And if you don’t pay, you don’t get love. Oh yeah, by the way, my mom makes less money than you. … I hate you.”
No other family behavior, and no other family-policy issue, has generated such an urgent social consensus on what is to be done. Extracting payments from deadbeat dads is now a regnant priority in our society, uniting liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, elite opinion and popular sentiment. In the 1992 presidential campaign, applause lines about deadbeat dads emerged in the stump speeches of both George Bush and Bill Clinton, reflecting perhaps the only issue in the campaign on which they publicly agreed.
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