In most child support cases, there are no issues with payment or collection. However, there is a percentage of all cases where it is tough to collect the support due.
If you are in this situation, you may have issues due to the gig economy. The gig economy includes jobs such as Uber drivers. These are positions where workers are independent contractors. The Pew Charitable Trusts explains such jobs can make the collection of child support more difficult.
The problem
The reason why gig work makes collection difficult is that the state does not require employers of independent contractors to report the income or employment status. Independent contractors technically work for themselves, so they do not fall under rules applicable to employees.
Because companies do not have to report, it is tough for the state or anyone to find out someone is working a gig.
Another issue is gig work is not completely stable. Contracts may be for a short-term project and can end at any time. A person can jump from gig to gig, even working for multiple companies at one time. This makes it tough to take any collection effort.
The result
If you are in a situation where someone who is a gig worker is supposed to pay you child support and he or she fails to do so, you cannot use the common means of collection. You cannot garnish wages because the person is not working for an employer who can set that up.
You have to find alternative methods of collection, such as garnishing a bank account, but there are limitations on your ability to do that. It can be difficult to collect on your child support payments if the other person is uncooperative in this situation.
