IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wop/wispod/1130-97.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Patterns of Child Support Compliance in Wisconsin

Author

Listed:
  • D. R. Meyer
  • J. Bartfeld

Abstract

This paper examines five-year compliance patterns among Wisconsin child support cases that came to court in 1986–88. We find only limited support for the common assumption that compliance with child support orders declines over time: the average percent paid is about .65 during each of the first five years. The most predominant trend is an increasing polarization into groups of nonpayers and full payers. Although we find considerable stability from year to year among nonpayers and full payers, there is considerable change over the course of five years. Compliance during the first year provides some indication of long-term compliance, but about half of fathers change their compliance rate over the period. We find important differences between divorced and nonmarital fathers, differences that are more pronounced than are apparent from a single year of data. Policy implications are discussed and further research is suggested.

Suggested Citation

  • D. R. Meyer & J. Bartfeld, "undated". "Patterns of Child Support Compliance in Wisconsin," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1130-97, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    • Handle: RePEc:wop:wispod:1130-97
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/dps/pdfs/dp113097.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Elizabeth Phillips & Irwin Garfinkel, 1993. "Income growth among nonresident fathers: evidence from Wisconsin," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 30(2), pages 227-241, May.
    2. I. Garfinkel & P. K. Robins, "undated". "The relationship between child support enforcement tools and child support outcomes," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1004-93, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    3. H. Peters & Laura Argys & Eleanor Maccoby & Robert Mnookin, 1993. "Enforcing divorce settlements: Evidence from child support compliance and award modifications," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 30(4), pages 719-735, November.
    4. J. Bartfeld & D. Meyer, "undated". "Are there really deadbeat dads? The relationship between ability to pay, enforcement, and compliance in nonmarital child support cases," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 994-93, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pirog, Maureen & Gerrish, Ed, 2015. "Impact of the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act on child support order establishment," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 104-117.
    2. I. Lin, "undated". "Perceived Fairness and Compliance with Child Support Obligations," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1150-97, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    3. Maureen A. Pirog & Kathleen M. Ziol-Guest, 2006. "Child support enforcement: Programs and policies, impacts and questions," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(4), pages 943-990.
    4. D. R. Meyer & J. Bartfeld, "undated". "Compliance with child support orders in divorce cases," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1043-94, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    5. J. A. Seltzer, "undated". "Demographic change, children's families and child support policy in the United States," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1036-94, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    6. J. Bartfeld & D. R. Meyer, "undated". "The Changing Role of Child Support among Never-Married Mothers," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1200-99, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    7. Castillo, Jason T., 2009. "The relationship between non-resident fathers' social networks and social capital and the establishment of child support orders," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 533-540, May.
    8. Guarin, Angela & Costanzo, Molly, 2020. "Noncustodial fathers’ financial contributions to children in three-generation households," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    9. Del Boca, D. & Ribero, R., 1999. "Visitations and Transfers in Non Intact Households," Papers 807, Yale - Economic Growth Center.
    10. D. R. Meyer, "undated". "Health insurance and child support," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1042-94, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    11. Rich, Lauren M., 2001. "Regular and irregular earnings of unwed fathers: Implications for child support practices," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4-5), pages 353-376.
    12. Shannon Seitz & Geoffrey Sanzenbacher & Andrew Beauchamp & Meghan Skira, 2014. "Deadbeat Dads," 2014 Meeting Papers 435, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    13. Kim, Yeongmin & Chung, Yiyoon, 2020. "Child support receipt among divorced mothers in Korea: Changes after the 2007 policy reform," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    14. Ian Smith, 2003. "The Law and Economics of Marriage Contracts," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(2), pages 201-226, April.
    15. repec:pri:crcwel:wp05-05-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Amy Farmer & Jill Tiefenthaler, 2003. "Strategic Bargaining Over Child Support and Visitation," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 205-218, September.
    17. Chen, Yiyu & Meyer, Daniel R., 2017. "Does joint legal custody increase child support for nonmarital children?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 547-557.
    18. Shirley H. Liu, 2007. "Is My Parents' Divorce to Blame for My Failure in Life? A joint Model of Child Educational Attainments and Parental Divorce," Working Papers 0610, University of Miami, Department of Economics.
    19. Judi Bartfeld, 2000. "Child support and the postdivorce economic well-being of mothers, fathers, and children," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 37(2), pages 203-213, May.
    20. Richard B. Freeman & Jane Waldfogel, 1998. "Dunning Delinquent Dads: The Effects of Child Support Enforcement on Child Support Receipt by Never Married Women," NBER Working Papers 6664, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Claudia Wood Strow & Brian Kent Strow, 2008. "Evidence That the Presence of a Half‐Sibling Negatively Impacts a Child's Personal Development," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(2), pages 177-206, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wop:wispod:1130-97. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Thomas Krichel (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iruwius.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.