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Child Support: Interaction Between Private and Public Transfers

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Author Info
Robert I. Lerman
Elaine Sorensen

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Abstract

Child support is a private transfer that is integral to the means-tested public transfer system. Support payments generally lower the budget costs of welfare as well the incentives for parents to participate. The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program, which establishes and enforces support obligations, also affects the incentives of the non-custodial parent donors and ultimately the distribution of incomes. While not formally income-tested, CSE still targets low-income families because so many custodial families are poor. This paper reviews the history of the CSE program; the economic rationale for government's role; trends in support awards and payments; the importance of child support to low-income families; the capacity of non-custodial parents to pay child support; trends in costs, financing and effectiveness of the CSE program; the effects of child support on behavior; equity issues in child support; and proposals for reform. Despite efficiency gains in the CSE program, especially in establishing paternity, a shift in the composition of cases has offset these improvements, causing support payments per custodial mother to rise only modestly in real terms.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 8199.

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Date of creation: Apr 2001
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:8199

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty
H3 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Weiss, Yoram & Willis, Robert J, 1985. "Children as Collective Goods and Divorce Settlements," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(3), pages 268-92, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Sorensen, Elaine & Clark, Sandra, 1994. "A Child-Support Assurance Program: How Much Will It Reduce Child Poverty, and at What Cost?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(2), pages 114-19, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Weiss, Yoram & Willis, Robert J, 1993. "Transfers among Divorced Couples: Evidence and Interpretation," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(4), pages 629-79, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Irwin Garfinkel & Sara McLanahan & Kristen Harknett, 1999. "Fragile Families and Welfare Reform," JCPR Working Papers 113, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
  5. Freya L. Sonenstein & Charles A. Calhoun, 1990. "Determinants Of Child Support: A Pilot Survey Of Absent Parents," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 8(1), pages 75-94, 01. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Chien-Chung Huang, 2001. "The Impact of Child Support Enforcement on Nonmarital and Marital Births: Does It Differ by Racial and Age Groups?," JCPR Working Papers 246, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
  2. C. Huang & I. Garfinkel & J. Waldfogel, . "Child Support and Welfare Caseloads," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1218-00, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty. [Downloadable!]
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