Economic Inequities in Child Support: The Role of Gender

Abstract

Despite their increasing numbers, divorced families with a noncustodial mother and a custodial father have received scant research attention. Our study attempts to provide some initial insight into the economic status of these families. Examining the child support obligation, we find that noncustodial mothers face a much smaller award than noncustodial fathers, both in terms of the absolute dollar amount of the award and as a percentage of the obligor's income. This potential inequity, however, is offset by the fact that-despite the relatively lower child support obligation-noncustodial mothers experience a larger decline in their standard of living than do custodial fathers and their children. Thus although previous research has found that custodial mothers bear the brunt of familial dissolution, this conclusion does not apply to custodial fathers. Rather, mothers-regardless of custodial status-fare more poorly than fathers.

Keeping Mum: Characteristics and Family Dynamics of Mothers Who Are Liable to Pay Child Support in Australia

“…As with the Australian research with nonresident mothers, the international work, particularly the work focusing on child support, is also thin. Some recurrent themes include: social stigma (Babcock, ; Bemiller, ; Kielty, ); family violence (Bemiller, ; Herrerias, ; Kruk, ); poor mental health (Thuen, ); low income (Stewart, ; Stirling & Aldrich, ); and substantial overnights (Kielty, ; Kitterod, ). This body of work, typically involving small qualitative samples, drew upon the experiences of nonresident mothers whose children lived with their father.…”