Child Support in Shared Care Cases: Do Child Support Policies in Thirteen Countries Reflect Family Policy Models?

Abstract

Increasingly, parents in separated families equally share care of their children post-separation. In this article we extend a well-known family policy model to generate hypotheses about the level of child support to be paid by separated parents when children live primarily with their mother (‘sole custody’) in contrast to when children spend equal time with both parents (‘shared care’). We test these hypotheses with data collected from thirteen countries. In sole custody cases, countries with an earner-carer policy model do have lower child support expectations than countries with a traditional family policy model or a market-oriented model, as predicted. Countries with a traditional family policy model do have the highest orders in the shared case, as predicted. However, there is as much variation within models as there is between, suggesting new analytic frameworks for considering child support in family policy need to be developed.

Lone mothers and child support receipt in 21 European countries

“…A large gender wage gap may continue to position mothers as primary carers and child support payers as breadwinners, leading to an increase in child support receipt. The ideological and cultural persistence of the male breadwinner model may put greater emphasis on fathers’ economic obligations towards their children (Hakovirta, Meyer, & Skinner, 2021). Our results also indicated that in countries where the need for child support was high, for instance, due to the high child poverty rates, lone mothers did not seem to benefit from child support.…”

Child Support Policy across High-Income Countries: Similar Problems, Different Approaches

“…In this method, country experts are identified and given the characteristics of hypothetical (model) families. They are then asked to report on whether there would be a child support order and its level, given the policies in place (e.g., Corden 1999; Hakovirta, Meyer, and Skinner 2021; Skinner, Bradshaw, and Davidson 2007). The vignette method is described in the online supplement, and more details are provided in Hakovirta and Haapanen (2020).…”

“…In Denmark, France, Sweden, and the UK, no child support is required in the two-child scenario in a shared-care arrangement. (Hakovirta, Meyer, and Skinner 2021).…”

“…In the United States, the average annual child support received by those mothers who receive something varies across data sources, but it generally ranges from about $5,000 to $7,000 (Grall 2020; Hakovirta, Meyer, and Skinner 2019). 6 The high amount in the United States is not surprising since the United States prioritizes obtaining support from noncustodial parents over governmental assistance (Hakovirta, Meyer, and Skinner 2021).…”

“…If the former is prioritized, child support orders may be high and public policy focused on enforcing obligations; while if the latter is prioritized, child support orders may be an amount that parents negotiate, which may be low, and public policy may focus on providing mediation, conflict resolution, and relationship building. 2 Other factors associated with policy choices include the level of economic development, gender roles in work and caring, and the overall social policy structure (e.g., Chung and Kim 2019; Cuesta and Meyer 2012; Hakovirta, Meyer, and Skinner 2021). Cultural values such as individualistic or collectivistic beliefs on family responsibility may also be relevant for understanding discrepancies in child support policy (Kang et al 2022).…”