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Local NY.ws
Deadbeat Dads
Continued from Page 1
ber of deadbeat dads is the re-
sult of tough financial times
coupled with an increase in di-
vorce. A just-completed Council
of Jewish Federations survey
shows a 36 percent divorce rate
in the Jewish community, a fig-
ure higher than just 10 years
ago and now on par with the
average for all Americans.
But Margaret Weiner of
Jewish Family Service says the
issue is not new. "Actually, this
has always been a problem,"
she said. "In the 1880s and
1890s men came from Europe
and settled in the United
States. Once here, they would
leave their wives and families
and go to another city, where
they would start a new family."
The problem often stems
from the fact that, for many,
divorce does not mean simply
separating from a partner. "For
some men," Ms. Weiner said,
"divorce means divorce from
the child as well."
Marjorie was not surprised
when her husband left. In the
settlement, he "agreed to any-
thing the court asked," she said.
He promised he would pay for
the children's Jewish education,
for their clothing and food. "But
I never saw a penny."
An attorney friend advised
Marjorie to forget it, especially
after Marty remarried in 1990.
The friend told her, "He's got a
new life now."
It has been five years since
Marty has seen his and
Marjorie's children. His son re-
cently asked Marjorie, "What
does Daddy look like?"
Marjorie's children go to pub-
lic school, so Jewish day school
tuition was not an issue. Yet for
many newly divorced women,
continuing their children's
Jewish education — despite the
financial struggle — is of pri-
mary importance.
"Some women just take their
children out of the school with-
out saying anything," said
Anaruth Bernard, a past pres-
ident of Hillel and former chair-
man of the school's tuition
allowance committee. "It be-
comes just one more thing they
can't handle.
"But others tell us,
is
the one stable factor I have,' "
she said.
Ms. Bernard would not of-
fer a figure as to how many
deadbeat dad cases she hears
each year. "But it is a substan-
tial number relative to the
number of people who come to
us for an allowance," she said.
This year, Akiva Hebrew
Day School awarded four schol-
arships "because of divorce
complications," said president
Barry Eisenberg. Money is in
the budget to handle the schol-
arships, but it wasn't even
needed until recently. "Five
years ago, this (issue) wasn't
Artwork by D. B. Johnson. Copyright° 1992. D. B. Johnson.
Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
a problem," Mr. Eisenberg said.
Administrators at some
Jewish day schools are so con-
cerned that they're not waiting
for couples to decide the issue.
"I know of one Maryland school
that's giving parents a contract,
instructing them that, should
they divorce, day school educa-
tion tuition must be addressed
in any settlement," Hillel's Mrs.
Phillips said.
`To me, the greatest sorrow
is the man who can write the
check for his child and will not.
Can you imagine what it's like
for a mother to have to tell her
A new survey shows a
36 percent divorce
rate in the Jewish
community, a figure on
par with the average
for all Americans.
children, Tour father won't pay
for your education'?"
But it's not just Jewish ed-
ucation that's at stake. A sense c
of community also is threat-
ened.
Without child support pay-
ments, abandoned mothers
may be forced to move into less
expensive neighborhoods, often
distant from the Jewish com-
munity, Mrs. Eizelman said.
This increases their feeling of
isolation.
Earl Reiner, of Reiner,
Zatkin and Green in Southfield,
is an attorney dealing in fami-
ly law. Aside from the moral
questions involved, Mr. Reiner
notes that the Jewish commu-
nity faces an additional legal
complication with deadbeat
dads.
Federal law has a system to
force some fathers to pay child