Understanding Child Support Trajectories

Background and purpose: The structure of the average American family has changed over the last several decades.  In 1980, 73% of children lived with two married parents in their first marriage, compared to only 46% in 2013. In 2014, 35% of children in the United States, were living in single-parent families. The composition of single-parent households has also changed, with a growing number of parents having never been married. Single parent households and unmarried parents in particular are more likely to live in poverty. Child support is an important source of income for single parent households. Child support may be provided through the formal system but may also be provided informally by fathers. Yet little is known regarding the trajectories of father’s provisions of child support as the time since the parents’ separation increases, particularly among non-marital parents.

Previous research has found that the number of years since divorce is associated with a decrease in formal child support payments among previously married parents. Nepomnyaschy and Garfinkel (2010), using longitudinal data, analyzed formal, informal, and total child support trajectories up until the child was 5 years of age among non-marital parents.  Findings revealed that total child support decreased for the first 15 months after parents stopped cohabiting and began increasing after 45 months. These studies offer important preliminary findings regarding the trajectories of child support. However, previous research has not yet provided a comprehensive picture of child support trajectories for both previously married and non-marital parents and their long-term trajectories. This study seeks to address this gap by examining the total package of cash child support (formal, informal, and total cash support) that residential mothers receive from non-resident fathers up until the focal child reaches 15 years of age. 

 

Methods: Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we examine child support among parents who were married, cohabiting, or not cohabiting at the time the child was born.  Bias due to attrition is addressed using multiple imputation. This study analyzes how these contributions vary as time since parents’ separation increases. The study further analyzes fathers’ rate of formal child support compliance (Amount of formal support paid/The formal support obligation) as the time since the child support order was established increases.  Results are estimated using locally weighted polynomial (lowess), random effects, and individual fixed effects regressions.

 

Results:  The amount of formal and informal support paid per month by non-marital fathers increases 30 months after separation. Married at baseline fathers decrease the amount of informal support paid 30 months after separation while formal support does not significantly change. Further analyses reveal a high probability of orders being established two or more years after separation, particularly among non-marital parents.  When trajectories are analyzed in terms of formal child support compliance, support decreases over time.

Implications: Ability to pay offers plausible explanation of increases in payments over time among non-marital parents. Findings will inform child support policy and increase our understanding of the financial stability of single-parent households.