The problem is the cake is only so big, whereas the offspring can be effectively infinite. If a man has 10 kids and earns (stop laughing at the back there) £1,000 a month, then how much does each child get ?
Or if he's on benefits - which as we know are already below the bare minimum - how do we extract the necessary 10xwhatever from his £72/week ?
Well, in the state where I live, there is a formula involving a percentage of all verifiable income (which isn't the catch it might be, as lying in the court about your income, presenting false tax returns, etc are offenses in and of themselves). You receive £72 per week to live on, so you pay as follows:
[State] Child Support Old Law
[State] child support law has traditionally been calculated by taking the obligor’s net income (gross income, minus taxes and other deductions), and applying a certain percentage based on the number of minor children, for example. The [State] Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (*MDMA) guidelines required that from his/her net income, a support-paying parent must pay twenty percent (20%) for one child; twenty-eight percent (28%) for two children; thirty-two percent (32%) for three children; forty percent (40%) for four children; forty-five percent (45%) for five; and fifty percent (50%) for six plus children to the other parent (the oblige). Net income is determined after making deductions for taxes, social security, retirement contributions, health insurance and any other deduction permitted under state law.
[State] Child Support New Law
Under the new [State] child support law, both parents’ incomes are considered when calculating support. Thus, child support is calculated based on the combined net incomes of both parents. The old method of using flat percentages based on the number of children is no longer be used. Instead, child support is now calculated as follows:
<span class="italic">Determine each parent’s “net income” by running their gross incomes through a gross to net conversion chart.</span>
<span class="italic">Combine both parents’ net incomes to determine the combined net income.</span>
<span class="italic">Determine what percentages of the combined net income is represented by each parent’s net incomes.</span>
<span class="italic">The combined net income from step 2 will be plugged into an income shares chart to determine the basic child support obligation.</span>
<span class="italic">Multiply the resulting number from step 4 with the percentages from step 3, for each parent.</span>
<span class="italic">The resulting numbers are each parent’s child support obligations. The number for the non-paying parent, typically the parent with the majority of parenting time, will be presumed to already be applied to the child. The number for the paying parent will be that parent’s child support obligation and must be paid to the non-paying parent.</span>
Under the new income-shares model, [State] courts consider that the typical costs to raise a child for a family should resemble the income level that would have been in place had the parents involved in each case stayed together. Accordingly, if each parent is working and earning income, both sets of income are added together to arrive at the amount necessary to raise the child(ren). In considering the costs of raising a child or children, [State] courts will take into account the cost of housing, clothes, food, transportation, ordinary uncovered medical expenses, ordinary extracurricular activities, entertainment and education. Judges are also free to consider any other extraordinary circumstances in setting support.
Because the principle of paying for your children matters.
Condoms are much cheaper.