Child support enforcement and fathers' contributions to their nonmarital children

Income Sources Across Childhood in Families With Nonresident Fathers

Unpartnered mothers rely on formal and informal income sources to support their coresident minor children. Building on work focusing on selective populations and shorter time horizons, we describe the family income sources on which U.S. women and their minor children rely for up to 17 years following an unpartnered birth or union dissolution (Panel Study of Income Dynamics 2001-2017; N = 12,369 person-year records from 3,148 children). Using rich description and fixed-effect models, we treat family income as dynamic, mapping change in the share and amount of family income from multiple sources as children age and women gain employment experience; enter new unions; experience changes in eligibility for public support programs; and receive contributions from kin, friends, and other household members. A patchwork of income sources is the norm throughout childhood, with mothers' earnings nearly universal but insufficient as a sole source of family income. Maternal repartnering increases family income through new partner earnings but is accompanied by offsetting reductions in other income sources, particularly from outside the household. In the context of weak institutional support for U.S. families, families with nonresident fathers rely on a complex mix of income sources to make ends meet.

Noncustodial parents, instrumental networks, and child support compliance

Research on child support compliance has focused on the characteristics of noncustodial parents (NCPs) that are associated with compliance, finding that compliance with child support orders is primarily related to the ability to pay support as demonstrated by earnings. Yet, there is evidence linking social support networks to both earnings and noncustodial parents' relationships with children. Using a social poverty framework, we show that relatively few NCPs are completely isolated: most have at least some people in their network who can loan money, provide a place to stay, or provide a ride. We explore whether the size of these instrumental support networks is positively linked to child support compliance both directly and indirectly through earnings. We find evidence of a direct association between instrumental support network size and child support compliance, but no evidence of an indirect association via increased earnings. These findings suggest the importance for researchers and child support practitioners to consider the contextual and relational factors of the social networks in which parents are embedded, and to more thoroughly examine the process by which support from one's network can lead to child support compliance.

“It’s Not a Cookie-Cutter Scenario Anymore”: the COVID-19 Pandemic and Transitioning to Virtual Work

The COVID-19 pandemic forced human services agencies, including child support agencies, to find ways to continue providing services. Many agencies considered changes to where and how staff work, in addition to new modalities for service provision. This paper explores how five Wisconsin child support agencies approached staff work arrangements and service delivery during the pandemic; challenges and opportunities encountered; changes agencies expect to persist; and implications for policy and practice. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with child support directors and staff in five Wisconsin counties between January and February, 2021. Data were analyzed thematically. Despite limited information and little prior experience working virtually, county agencies rapidly adapted staff work arrangements and service delivery methods to facilitate service continuity. Strategies used by agencies varied across counties, given local directives, resources, and constraints, and as the pandemic evolved. Despite variation, counties contended with a similar array of decision points, including changes to physical spaces, office closures, and staff work locations. Agencies also implemented creative strategies to connect with customers and keep services accessible. Findings suggest that innovative combinations of traditional and newer methods can help agencies maximize reach. Further, the infrastructure and experiences counties gained by working in new ways offer increased flexibility and improved capacity for service continuity in the future. Policymakers could support these efforts by providing guidance related to confidentiality and data security; supporting and facilitating crisis contingency planning; coordinating information exchanges; procuring technology and resources; and advocating for infrastructure, particularly broadband internet.

Women's Lived Experiences with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): How TANF Can Better Support Women's Wellbeing and Reduce Intimate Partner Violence

Women experiencing poverty are more likely to face intimate partner violence (IPV), poor health, and stigma. IPV survivors are overrepresented among those who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a conditional cash program serving families experiencing poverty. More generous TANF policies may be protective against IPV, but a greater insight into TANF's effect could be gleaned through a contemporaneous study that examines intersecting determinants of wellbeing and engages community interpretation of findings. Using an adapted Family Stress Model framework and analyzing data through an intersectional and community-based lens, we explore the impact of TANF on women's wellbeing through in-depth, semi-structured interviews during the COVID-19 pandemic with 13 women who had TANF experience in three U.S. states. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis in MAXQDA and researchers facilitated three member-checking events to enhance validity of result interpretation. Four themes emerged: (1) Low cash and conditional benefits provided limited short-term "relief" but contributed to poverty and hard choices; (2) TANF benefit levels and conditions increased women's dependence on others, straining relationships; (3) Women undertook extraordinary measures to access TANF, largely to fulfill their roles as mothers; and (4) TANF stigma creates psychological stress, differentially experienced by African Americans. Increasing TANF cash benefits and other cash transfers for those experiencing poverty, adopting solely state funded TANF programs, increasing funding for TANF administration, addressing TANF stigma and racialized narratives, and allowing optional child support participation or a larger "pass-through" of child support are important steps toward making TANF more protective against IPV.

Contributions of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to Child Development

We describe the promise of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) for developmental researchers. FFCWS is a birth cohort study of 4,898 children born in 1998-2000 in large US cities. This prospective national study collected data on children and parents at birth and during infancy (age 1), toddlerhood (age 3), early childhood (age 5), middle childhood (age 9), adolescence (age 15), and, in progress, young adulthood (age 22). Though FFCWS was created to understand the lives of unmarried parent families, its comprehensive data on parents, children, and contexts can be used to explore many other developmental questions. We identify six opportunities for developmentalists: (a) analyzing developmental trajectories, identifying the importance of the timing of exposures for later development, (c) documenting bidirectional influences on development, (d) understanding development in context, (e) identifying biological moderators and mechanisms, and ( f ) using an urban-born cohort that is large, diverse, and prospective.

The female payer: Gender differences in characteristics among child support payers

Nonresident mothers who formally pay child support are becoming increasingly prevalent. If the profile of female payers differs from that of men or if their payment is motivated differently, existing gender-based child support policies and enforcement strategies face significant challenges. This study uses the payment framework of male compliance to map the differences between male and female payers of child support. The analysis applies discriminant analysis to a combination of register and fiscal data of separated parents. Whereas the separate aspects of the payment framework did not reach the threshold for acceptable discrimination, the full model revealed considerable differences between male and female payers. The aspect of willingness to pay showed the greatest discriminating power, suggesting that paying mothers have a higher willingness to do so than fathers. We conclude that while the discrepancies between nonresident mothers and fathers who pay child support can be partly attributed to demographic differences and residency patterns of children, differing motivations are also of importance.

Maternal and Paternal Cognitive Engagement and Children’s Literacy Skills in 25 African Countries

There is increasing interest in promoting positive parenting to improve childhood development in low- and middle-income countries. Following propositions in parenting and cultural-ecological frameworks about the importance of early parent-child engagement in fostering children’s literacy skills, we used the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Surveys to assess the associations between maternal and paternal book reading, storytelling, and naming/counting and early literacy skills in 90,397 families and their preschool-aged children in 25 low- and middle-income African countries. Individual participant data meta-analysis indicated strong associations between maternal and paternal engagement in reading, storytelling, and naming/counting and children’s letter recognition, reading simple words, and recognizing symbols. Preschool enrollment and maternal education consistently moderated the associations between maternal and paternal engagement activities and children’s literacy skills. These findings are in agreement with those found in the high-income countries and have implications for the transferability of parenting practices from high-income to low- and middle-income countries in efforts to improve the early academic skills of young children.

Shifts in Higher-Order Unions and Stepfamilies among Currently Cohabiting and Married Women of Childbearing Age

Shifts in union formation and childbearing have undoubtedly altered the prevalence and structure of higher-order unions and stepfamilies, but no study has examined trends over time. Comparing the 1988 and 2011-2013 cycles of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), I produce estimates of repartnering and stepfamily formation among currently partnered women aged 15-44. The percentage of intact unions that are remarriages stayed stable (around 27-28%), but a growing proportion of currently married and cohabiting women had another cohabiting partner in the past. The percentage of intact unions that are stepfamilies increased from 24% to 31%, with an increase in cohabiting stepfamilies from 19% to 39% of all stepfamilies. Further, while the majority of remarriages are stepfamilies, the majority of women's stepfamilies are no longer remarriages due to union formation among never-married parents. Cohabiting (but not marital) stepfamilies also exhibited changes in which partner had children and in shared childbearing.

Establishment of Legal Paternity for Children of Unmarried American Women : Trade-Offs in Male Commitment to Paternal Investment

The establishment of a legal father for children of unmarried parents reflects both high paternity confidence and male willingness to commit to paternal investment. Whether an unmarried man voluntarily acknowledges paternity after a child is born has important consequences for both the mother and child. This paper brings to bear a life history perspective on paternity establishment, noting that men face trade-offs between mating and parental effort and that women will adjust their investment in children based on expected male investment. I predict that paternity establishment will be more likely when the mother has high socioeconomic status, when maternal health is good, and when the child is male, low parity, or a singleton (versus multiple) birth. I further predict that establishment of paternity will be associated with increased maternal investment in offspring, resulting in healthier babies with higher birthweights who are more likely to be breastfed. These predictions are tested using data on 5.4 million births in the United States from 2009 through 2013. Overall the results are consistent with the hypothesis that the trade-offs men face between reproductive and parental investment influence whether men voluntarily acknowledge paternity when a child is born.

Child support and mixed-status families an analysis using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study

A large body of literature documents the importance of child support for children's wellbeing, though little is known about the child support behaviors of mixed-status families, a large and rapidly growing population in the United States. In this paper, we use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to investigate the impact of citizenship status on formal and informal child support transfers among a nationally representative sample of parents who have citizen children. Probit regression models and propensity score matching (PSM) estimators show that mixed-status families are significantly less likely to have child support orders and child support receipt compared to their citizen counterparts. We found that mothers' knowledge of the child support system increases the probability of establishing paternity. However, cultural differences in knowledge of and perception about the U.S. child support system between mixed-status families and citizen families do not have an impact on the probability of getting a child support order, child support receipt, or in-kind child support. Rather, institutional factors such as collaborations between welfare agencies and child support enforcement agencies as well as state child support enforcement efforts have a significant impact on formal child support outcomes. The results are robust against different model specifications, measure constructions, and use of datasets. These findings have important policy implications for policy makers and researchers interested in reducing child poverty in complex family structures and underscore the need to revisit child support policies for mixed-status families.

Paternal Multiple Partner Fertility and Environmental Chaos Among Unmarried Nonresident Fathers

This study examined the association between paternal multiple partner fertility (MPF; having children with two or more partners) and indicators of environmental chaos (partnership instability, residential instability, work stability, material hardship, and perceived social support) among unmarried, non-resident fathers. Survey data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 873) were used to compare unmarried non-resident fathers who experienced MPF to those who had children with one partner. Results show that paternal MPF is associated with most indicators of environmental chaos (greater partnership instability, residential instability, work instability, material hardship), but not social support. Results suggest that fathers who experience MPF face challenges beyond those of other non-resident fathers. Policies and interventions should address aspects of instability and hardship that are unique to paternal MPF in order to encourage fathers' positive contributions to children and families. Directions for future research are discussed.

Child Support Receipt, Mobility, and Housing Quality

This study uses administrative records for the state of Wisconsin as well as Zillow Real Estate data on median house values to examine the associations between the regularity of child support receipt on moves and changes in housing values following moves. Our sample consists of 13 329 custodial mothers with new orders from 2002 to 2006. Across several measures of child support and specifications of moves, regular receipt is negatively associated with any moves and with more than one move a year, holding constant the value of the child support received. In models examining associations between regularity and changes in housing quality after a move, an additional month of child support within 25 per cent of the order amount is associated with an $890 increase in housing value. These results imply that policy-makers concerned with housing stability consider both the regularity and absolute value of child support when considering family well-being.

Coparenting and Nonresident Fathers' Monetary Contributions to Their Children

The percentage of children in the United States living apart from their biological father has increased, while public assistance for single mothers has diminished. This has resulted in a need to better understand and promote nonresident fathers' economic support of their children. In the present study the author used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 1,752) to examine how coparenting-the degree to which parents are mutually supportive and cooperative in raising their child-is related to nonresident fathers' monetary contributions. Results from pooled regression and fixed effects models indicate that coparenting is positively associated with fathers' likelihood of paying formal and informal child support and the amount of these payments. Findings from cross-lagged structural equation models suggest that the association between coparenting and fathers' payments is reciprocal but that coparenting has a stronger effect on fathers' payments than fathers' payments do on coparenting.

How Much In-Kind Support Do Low-Income Nonresident Fathers Provide? A Mixed-Method Analysis

Past child support research has largely focused on cash payments made through the courts (formal support) or given directly to the mother (informal support), almost to the exclusion of a third type: non-cash goods (in-kind support). Drawing on repeated, semistructured interviews with nearly 400 low-income noncustodial fathers, the authors found that in-kind support constitutes about one quarter of total support. Children in receipt of some in-kind support receive, on average, $60 per month worth of goods. Multilevel regression analyses demonstrated that children who are younger and have more hours of visitation, as well as those whose father has a high school education and no current substance abuse problem, receive in-kind support of greater value. Yet children whose fathers lack stable employment, or are Black, receive a greater proportion of their total support in kind. A subsequent qualitative analysis revealed that fathers' logic for providing in-kind support is primarily relational, and not financial.

Falling Further Behind? Child Support Arrears and Fathers' Labor Force Participation

This study examines how child support arrears affect fathers' labor force participation. It relies on longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study. Findings from analyses of these data suggest that child support arrears result in declines in average weeks worked in the formal labor market in subsequent time periods. These findings are driven by the behaviors of fathers who had relatively high amounts of arrears and no income in the previous year and are mostly robust to tests for selection into no work or low levels of work by fathers. Findings also suggest that arrears obligations that are low relative to income result in increases in the probability that fathers engage in any formal work. Arrears are not statistically significantly related to informal labor force participation. This study highlights both intended and unintended consequences of the growth in arrears under current child support enforcement policies.

Paternal incarceration and support for children in fragile families

High U.S. incarceration rates have motivated recent research on the negative effects of imprisonment on later employment, earnings, and family relationships. Because most men in jail and prison are fathers, a large number of children may be placed at considerable risk by policies of incarceration. This article examines one dimension of the economic risk faced by children of incarcerated fathers: the reduction in the financial support that they receive. We use a population-based sample of urban children to examine the effects of incarceration on this support. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal regressions indicate that formerly incarcerated men are less likely to contribute to their families, and those who do contribute provide significantly less. The negative effects of incarceration on fathers' financial support are due not only to the low earnings of formerly incarcerated men but also to their increased likelihood to live apart from their children. Men contribute far less through child support (formal or informal) than they do when they share their earnings within their household, suggesting that the destabilizing effects of incarceration on family relationships place children at significant economic disadvantage.

The evolution of family complexity from the perspective of nonmarital children

We document the incidence and evolution of family complexity from the perspective of children. Following a cohort of firstborn children whose mothers were not married at the time of their birth, we consider family structure changes over the first 10 years of the child's life-considering both full and half-siblings who are coresidential or who live in another household. We rely on detailed longitudinal administrative data from Wisconsin that include information on the timing of subsequent births to the mother and father, and detailed information on earnings, child support, and welfare. We find that 60% of firstborn children of unmarried mothers have at least one half-sibling by age 10. Our results highlight the importance of having fertility information for both fathers and mothers: estimates of the proportion of children with half-siblings would be qualitatively lower if we had fertility information on only one parent. Complex family structures are more likely for children of parents who are younger or who have low earnings and for those in larger urban areas. Children who have half-siblings on their mother's side are also more likely to have half-siblings on their father's side, and vice versa, contributing to very complex family structures-and potential child support arrangements-for some children.

Child Support and Young Children's Development

This study examines the effects of nonresident fathers' provision of formal and informal cash child support on children's cognitive skills and behavior at 5 years of age. Taking advantage of the panel structure of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we control for child outcomes at age 3 and a rich set of child and family sociodemographic and psychosocial characteristics. We find that fathers' provision of informal cash support (but not formal support), particularly at or above the median, is associated with higher cognitive scores. We also find that provision of formal child support is associated with worse withdrawn and aggressive behaviors. We discuss potential explanations and implications of these results for policy and future research.

Maternal Re-Partnering and New-Partner Fertility: Associations with Nonresident Father Investments in Children

Research suggests that paternal re-partnering and new-partner fertility are associated with decreased nonresident father investments in children. Few studies, however, have examined the influence of maternal re-partnering and new-partner births on nonresident father investments. We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine associations of maternal re-partnering (through cohabitation or marriage with a new partner) and new-partner births with nonresident father visitation and child support payments. Results suggest that maternal re-partnering is associated with a decrease in both yearly father-child contact and child support received by the mother. New-partner fertility for mothers who are co-residing with a partner is associated with an additional decrease in monthly father-child contact, but does not have an additional influence on yearly father-child contact or child support receipt.

The evolution of family complexity from the perspective of nonmarital children

We document the incidence and evolution of family complexity from the perspective of children. Following a cohort of firstborn children whose mothers were not married at the time of their birth, we consider family structure changes over the first 10 years of the child's life-considering both full and half-siblings who are coresidential or who live in another household. We rely on detailed longitudinal administrative data from Wisconsin that include information on the timing of subsequent births to the mother and father, and detailed information on earnings, child support, and welfare. We find that 60% of firstborn children of unmarried mothers have at least one half-sibling by age 10. Our results highlight the importance of having fertility information for both fathers and mothers: estimates of the proportion of children with half-siblings would be qualitatively lower if we had fertility information on only one parent. Complex family structures are more likely for children of parents who are younger or who have low earnings and for those in larger urban areas. Children who have half-siblings on their mother's side are also more likely to have half-siblings on their father's side, and vice versa, contributing to very complex family structures-and potential child support arrangements-for some children.

Predictors of supportive coparenting after relationship dissolution among at-risk parents

Supportive coparenting after relationship dissolution is associated with increased father involvement which can buffer against the negative effects of parental relationship dissolution. Low-income, at-risk families are much more likely to experience relationship dissolutions; hence, supportive coparenting after dissolution is particularly important in these families. We examined whether relationship (commitment and quality) and child (difficult temperament and gender) characteristics predicted initial levels of, and change in, supportive coparenting after relationship dissolution in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 1,603). We used structural equation modeling of latent growth curves to examine four time points collected at the focal child's birth and first, third, and fifth birthdays. Ninety-percent of the mothers had nonmarital births, and about three-quarters had a high school diploma or less education. Overall, supportive coparenting decreased over time. Mothers in more committed relationships prior to the dissolution initially had significantly lower supportive coparenting. But over time, mothers who had been in more committed relationships increased in supportive coparenting. Mothers who had been in higher quality relationships prior to dissolution initially reported more supportive coparenting. At each time point, if a mother was romantically involved with a new partner, she reported significantly lower supportive coparenting compared to mothers who were single. With regard to child characteristics, mothers who reported their child as more difficult had significantly lower initial supportive coparenting. Similar results for fathers are discussed. Overall, the relationship characteristics of parents were important predictors of supportive coparenting both initially and over time.

Fathers' Involvement with Their Nonresident Children and Material Hardship

Children in single-parent families, particularly children born to unmarried parents, are at high risk for experiencing material hardship. Previous research based on cross-sectional data suggests that father involvement, especially visitation, diminishes hardship. This article uses longitudinal data to examine the associations between nonresident fathers' involvement with their children and material hardship in the children's households. Results suggest that fathers' formal and informal child support payments and contact with their children independently reduce the number of hardships in the mothers' households; however, only the impact of fathers' contact with children is robust in models that include lagged dependent variables or individual fixed effects. Furthermore, cross-lagged models suggest that material hardship decreases future father involvement, but future hardship is not diminished by father involvement (except in-kind contributions). These results point to the complexity of these associations and to the need for future research to focus on heterogeneity of effects within the population.

Fragile Families and the Reproduction of Poverty

In 1965, Daniel Patrick Moynihan warned that non-marital childbearing and marital dissolution were undermining the progress of African Americans. I argue that what Moynihan identified as a race-specific problem in the 1960s has now become a class-based phenomena as well. Using data from a new birth cohort study, I show that unmarried parents come from much more disadvantaged populations than married parents. I further argue that non-marital childbearing reproduces class and racial disparities through its association with partnership instability and multi-partnered fertility. These processes increase in maternal stress and mental health problems, reduce the quality of mothers' parenting, reduce paternal investments, and ultimately lead to poor outcomes in children. Finally, by spreading fathers' contributions across multiple households, partnership instability and multi-partnered fertility undermine the importance of individual fathers' contributions of time and money which is likely to affect the future marriage expectations of both sons and daughters.