There exists in this country a problem that lies far below the radar.
There are no political speeches about it; there are no sponsored walks raising money to conquer it; and as yet there are no "bailouts" for those experiencing it.
The problem is a form of extortion, and it falls on the shoulders of the parents of challenged adults.
Making a living is a difficult enterprise under the best of conditions.
Americans who are sighted, hearing, mobile and mentally facile must scramble hard every day just to keep our noses above water.
Financial upheavals such as the one the world has experienced in recent months greatly intensifies that daily battle.
What about Americans with challenges - people with mental deficiencies, or with hearing, vision or mobility impairments? Historically, these Americans' salaries have remained below those of their non-challenged counterparts.
What about the young children of challenged people? If the provider's salary is not sufficient to support them adequately, what recourse do they have? Many parents will occasionally make gifts of money to their challenged or non-challenged adult children.
This is a loving and generous gesture and is widely applauded in society.
The picture shifts, however, if the parent has regularly helped a challenged child financially, or if the parent owns a business and the child works at that business.
This situation reveals an elegant variety of catch-22.
In many cases of a parent employing a challenged adult child, the parent may overpay or otherwise overcompensate the child.
These favors may far outdistance what the child could possibly earn in the open market.
The parent does this out of love and concern for the child and for any grandchildren there may be.
However, if the child divorces, the picture can become much more complicated.
When the child's income is examined, his salary is shown to be inflated.
If the child does not work for the parent, regular cash gifts from the parent will be documented.
It may then be decided that, since the parent has paid this amount to the child for a period of years, the parent can afford it and must continue to pay the child this same amount into future years.
This decision may stand even when the parent's income decreases in retirement.
In the case of divorce, in a great majority of cases the husband is responsible for maintenance and child support.
In the scenario described here, if the challenged adult is the father, the amount of maintenance and support will be based on the amount that the child has been receiving from the parents and from work.
The child's true abilities may be assessed to estimate how much he or she could earn in a neutral, objectively competitive workplace, away from the parent's benevolent supervision.
This brings added stresses and complications for the family.
To clarify, we can look at a recent New York divorce case.
The parents of a divorced challenged adult must pay into maintenance of the ex-wife, as well as child support.
In this case, the challenged adult works for a parent in the parent's own business.
The child was married for ten years.
The challenged person, though deaf and unable to make more than $400 to $500 a week in the open market, has to pay maintenance of $10,000 per month to the ex-spouse plus child support of $3,000 per month.
He must also pay for all educational and medical expenses for the three children and the ex-wife.
This is based on the salary he received from his parents as gratis to help him enjoy and educate his children through the years.
In addition, the child faces jail and loss of contact with his children if he cannot meet the payments, which in this case amount to almost $20,000 per month.
From any angle, it appears that the parent of an adult challenged child may be forced to fulfill unusual financial obligations to the child.
These obligations can easily outpace any obligations of other parents to their non-challenged adult children.