Reconciling remote learning with imputed income for custodial parents

Abstract

One of the logical, yet seemingly unanticipated, effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the exodus of parents, primarily mothers, from the workplace. An October 2020 Pew study indicates that as many as 30% of parents reduced work hours or left the workforce all together, with a pronounced burden falling on working mothers. This paper examines one possible consequence of voluntary under- or unemployment by these parents: imputed income for the purposes of calculating child support. Forecasters predict that remote learning is now an option schools will likely turn to again to address all sorts of possible problems from environmental disasters to flu outbreaks. Family law practitioners should be prepared to deal with this likelihood, and should be ready to address the possible effects on child support with their clients.