Barriers to Formal Child Support Payment

Berger, Lawrence M.; Cancian, Maria; Guarin, Angela; Hodges, Leslie; Meyer, Daniel R.

doi:10.1086/714370

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…While our findings suggest such policy could build on strong existing engagement by the majority of nonresident fathers, we underscore the reality that without structural changes to increase fathers’ capacity for material and social involvement with their children, none of the dimensions of father involvement considered in this study are sufficient to reduce poverty and economic insecurity among children in custodial mother families, as fathers of these children are precariously tied to the labor market and are socioeconomically disadvantaged themselves (Berger et al 2021; Berger and Langton 2011; Mincy, Jethwani, and Klempin 2014). Thus, policies to enhance the economic well-being of children in custodial mother families must focus on directly increasing resources in the mothers’ households, including child-focused allowances or tax credits, as in most European countries and currently being discussed in the United States.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…A growing body of work has documented the barriers that many nonresident fathers face in paying their child support obligations, tied to changes in the labor market; mass incarceration; the compounding effects of discrimination in the labor market based on race, ethnicity, and criminal justice system involvement; as well as child support policies that set regressive obligations for lower-income fathers (Berger et al 2021; Dwyer Emory et al 2020; Mincy, Jethwani, and Klempin 2014; Holzer, Offner, and Sorensen 2005; Sum et al 2011; Cancian and Meyer 2018). Many nonresident parents who enter the CSE system are economically vulnerable, and recent national data indicates that 35 percent of all nonresident parents are low income (income less than 200 percent of the federal policy level [FPL]) (Landers 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nonresident Fathers and the Economic Precarity of Their Children

Nepomnyaschy¹,

Thomas²,

Haralampoudis³

et al. 2022

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Scie

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This study examines the relationship between nonresident fathers and their children’s economic precarity. We use a racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse sample of children in large U.S. cities and consider a comprehensive set of measures of the involvement of nonresident fathers in their lives. We evaluate both voluntary and involuntary (court-ordered child support) involvement of fathers, and we look at material hardship and income-to-poverty ratio as measures of children’s economic precarity. We find that only high levels of formal child support have a protective effect on children’s economic well-being, while fathers’ voluntary involvement (experienced by 70 percent of children) has a more consistent protective effect. Overall, policies to reduce children’s economic precarity need to focus on improving nonresident fathers’ ability to be involved with and contribute to their children, as well as on direct assistance to custodial mother families.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonresident Fathers and the Economic Precarity of Their Children

Nepomnyaschy¹,

Thomas²,

Haralampoudis³

et al. 2022

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Scie

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“…Nearly 70 percent had been convicted of a crime, and almost all of these had been incarcerated. Related research (Berger et al., 2021) shows that more than half the noncustodial fathers report that transportation difficulties, not having the right job skills, and having a criminal record made it difficult to find or keep a job; and about 40 percent said that housing instability and caring for family members were barriers.…”

Section: Study Design Data and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This suggests that a different approach to child support in which orders were reviewed to see if they were appropriate and the agency was slower to institute punitive actions might be effective. Finally, some research shows that noncustodial parents face a wide variety of barriers that impede employment and thus the ability to pay support, including transportation difficulties, mental health challenges, and criminal records (Berger et al., 2021). This again suggests that case management that could assist noncustodial parents in accessing a variety of services in the community might be effective.…”

Section: Background and Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Do Carrots Work Better than Sticks? Results from the National Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration

Cancian¹,

Meyer²,

Wood³

2022

J Policy Anal Manage

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Most children in the United States will spend at least part of their childhood living apart from one of their parents; the child support system is designed to ensure that they nonetheless receive financial support. While the system is largely effective when noncustodial parents have substantial regular earnings, many noncustodial parents, including a disproportionate share of those whose children live in poverty, have limited earnings and ability to pay child support. The system's response to nonpayment is primarily “sticks,” that is, threats and punishments. Nonexperimental evaluations of alternative approaches have shown promise. The National Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration (CSPED), a large‐scale random‐assignment evaluation enrolling more than 10,000 noncustodial parents across 18 locations in eight states, was designed to test the effectiveness of an alternative approach—adjusting child support orders, reducing punitive enforcement, and offering employment and parenting services. We find that CSPED, using carrots in place of sticks, substantially increased the satisfaction of noncustodial parents with child support services, lowered the amount of support owed, and increased noncustodial parents’ sense of responsibility for their children. However, CSPED had limited to no effects on child support compliance, child support payments, or employment outcomes.

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“…Indeed, only half of states pass any portion of these payments through to the custodial parent and child (National Conference of State Legislators [NCSL], 2020). Moreover, about one‐quarter of noncustodial fathers in this program are themselves poor (Oliver & Sorensen, 2002), and often have significant barriers to payment, including criminal records, transportation problems, and housing instability (Berger et al, 2021; Cancian et al, 2019). Not surprisingly, it is the lowest‐income fathers who owe most of the outstanding child support debt and for whom aggressive enforcement actions have been least effective.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child support debt and the well‐being of disadvantaged fathers of color

Robbins

Waller

Nepomnyaschy

et al. 2022

J of Marriage and Family

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Objective: Using a survey sample comprised of predominantly low-income fathers of color, we examine whether child support debt (arrears) is associated with fathers' poor physical health, depression, and material hardship 9 years after their child's birth. Background: About 70% of the $113.5 billion in outstanding arrears is held by men earning $10,000 or less, and an emerging body of research suggests arrears can negatively impact economically disadvantaged fathers of color and their families. Method: Drawing on fathers' data from the first five waves of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS; N = 1614), we use multivariate regressions to assess the relationship between child support arrears and fathers' physical health, depression, and material hardship. We examine three different measures of arrears and assess the robustness of our results to model specifications that account for selection into arrears. Results: Fathers with arrears and with higher arrears are more likely to experience poor physical health, depression, and material hardship, and these associations are more pronounced for fathers with high arrears burdens relative to their incomes. Results are robust to different measurements of arrears, who reports them (father or mother), and across model specifications (lagged dependent variables and inverse probability weighted analyses). Conclusion: Disadvantaged fathers with arrears fare far worse physically, psychologically, and economically than those with no arrears. Findings from our study add to growing research documenting harmful consequences of child support debt and point to an important avenue through which ostensibly race neutral family policies may disadvantage low-income men of color.

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Barriers to Formal Child Support Payment

Cited by 11 publications

References 42 publications

Nonresident Fathers and the Economic Precarity of Their Children

Nonresident Fathers and the Economic Precarity of Their Children

Do Carrots Work Better than Sticks? Results from the National Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration

Child support debt and the well‐being of disadvantaged fathers of color

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