Unfortunately, non-payment of child support is quite common across all social classes here. All my divorced friends and relatives have had to deal with exes who simply don't pay, and they have the impossible dilemma of doing without the money, making do with less, or putting their children's father in jail.
One friend who fought a long legal battle to get her ex to pay up told fascinating tales from the tribunal waiting room, where she exchanged experiences with poor women who were struggling to get RD$500 a month, and in one case, the ex of a prominent businessman who was trying for hundreds of thousands of pesos per month. My friend was probably been being facetious, but apparently this monthly expense was justified by daily helicopter journeys to the child's private school in Puerto Rico. In a gold-plated helicopter, no doubt.
Joking aside, it is a serious problem for women in the DR.
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