Child Support Receipt
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Headline

Among custodial parents with a child support award, the percentage who received a full payment of all support owed them in the previous year increased from 37 percent in 1994 to 46 percent in 1998, and was 45 percent in 2003. (See Figure 1)

Importance

In 2002, over a quarter of all children under age 21 who were living in families had a parent who was not living in the home.¹ Most often, children live with their mothers in the absence of the other parent,² although families headed by single fathers are increasing in number.³ These families have an increased likelihood of living in poverty.⁴

Due in part to such implications, states have strengthened child support enforcement in recent years. Strong child support enforcement has been linked to a greater likelihood that young mothers can exit and stay off welfare.⁵ On the other hand, even if custodial parents living in poverty in 1991 received the full payment owed to them, a significant proportion would not have received enough to put them above the poverty level.⁶

Fathers who pay child support are more likely to spend time with their children. It is not clear, however, whether the monetary involvement encourages fathers to develop an emotional connection with their children, or whether involved fathers are more motivated to pay child support.⁷ Either way, some have argued that policies to strengthen the enforcement of child support should not be structured in a way that discourages the involvement of low income fathers with their children.⁸

Trends

Among custodial parents with a child support award, the percentage who received full payment of all support owed them in the previous year increased from 37 percent in 1994 to 46 percent in 1998, and was 45 percent in 2003. (See Figure 1) The percentage of custodial parents who were owed support but received no payment remained relatively stable between 1994 and 2003, ranging from 24 and 26 percent. (See Table 1).

The percentage of custodial parents who had a support award increased modestly from 57 percent in 1994 to 60 percent in 2003. (See Table 1).

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Differences by Marital Status

Custodial parents who had never married were substantially less likely than custodial parents who had ever been married to receive the full child support payment owed them. In 2003, 35 percent of never-married custodial parents reported that they received full child support payments in the previous year, compared with 49 percent of ever-married custodial parents. (See Figure 2).

Differences by Educational Attainment

Custodial parents with at least a college degree were more likely than those without a high school diploma to receive the full amount of child support payments awarded to them. In 2003, among parents who were due child support payments in the past year, only 41 percent of custodial parents with a high school degree or less reported that they received their full child support awards in the previous year, followed by 47 percent of those with some college or an associate's degree, and 56 percent of those with a bachelor's degree or more. (See Figure 3).

Differences by Age

The percentage of custodial parents who receive full child support payments varies considerably by age. In 2003, none (0 percent) of the 12,000 custodial parents ages 15 to 17 who were supposed to receive child support payments in the previous year actually received full payments, compared to 31 percent of those 18 to 29 years old, 47 percent of those 30 to 39 years old, and 53 percent of those 40 years of age and older. (See Figure 4).

Differences by Custodial Parent

In 2003, 40 percent of custodial fathers had been awarded child support compared with 64 percent of custodial mothers. (See Table 1).

Non-cash Payments

Custodial parents also received non-cash payments from absent parents. In 2003, 24 percent of all custodial parents reported that their child's absent parent provided health insurance in the prior year. Also, 59 percent of all custodial parents reported that their child's absent parent provided some form of non-cash payment in the prior year. (See Table 1).

Related Indicators

Family Structure

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State and Local Estimates

None

International Estimates

None

National Goals

None

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Research References

¹Grall, Timothy (2003). "Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2001," Current Population Reports P60-225. Available online at http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p60-225.pdf

²Ibid.

³Brown, B.V. (2000). The single father family: Recent trends in demographic, economic, and public transfer use characteristics. Marriage and Family Review, Vol. 29, Nos. 2 and 3.

⁴McLanahan, S. and Sandefur, G 1994. Growing up with a single parent: What hurts, what helps. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. See also Brown (2000).

⁵Chien-Chung, Huang, James Junz and Irwin Garfinkle. 2002. The effect of child Support on welfare exits and re-entries. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 21,4: 557-76.

⁶U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means (1998). 1998 green book. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

⁷Koball, H., & Principe, D. (2002). Do nonresident fathers who pay child support visit their children more? The Urban Institute Assessing the New Federalism Series B, No. B-44, March. Available online at http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/310438.pdf

⁸Sorensen, Elaine and Lerman, Robert I. 1998. Welfare reform and low-income noncustodial fathers. Challenge, 41,4: 101-116.

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Definition

Data are based on parents who live with their own children under age 21 without the child's other parent living with the family. Child support income reflects payments that custodial parents received during the previous calendar year as well as other types of support. Children who might be eligible for child support but are living with neither biological parent are not included.

For more information, see Grall, Timothy (2006). "Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2003," Current Population Reports P60-230. Available online at http://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/p60-230.pdf.

Data Source

Totals for child support awards and payment: Child Trends calculations based on Grall, Timothy (2006). "Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2003," Current Population Reports P60-230. Table 1. Available online at http://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/p60-230.pdf

Data for non-cash payments and receipt of support by demographic characteristics: U.S. Census Bureau, "Child Support: 2003," Detailed Tables. Available online at http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/childsupport/chldsu03.pdf. See Tables 8 and 10.

Totals for child support awards and payment: Child Trends calculations based on Grall, Timothy (2003). "Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2001," Current Population Reports P60-225. Table A. Available online at http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p60-225.pdf

Data for non-cash payments and receipt of support by demographic characteristics: U.S. Census Bureau, "Child Support: 2001," Detailed Tables. Available online at http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/childsupport/cs01.html. See Tables 8 and 10.

Raw Data Source

Current Population Survey April (Child Custody) Supplement

Approximate Date of Next Update

2007

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