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Abstract: Family complexity creates difficulties for child support policy. We examine whether policy in 14 countries results in nonresident parents having equal financial obligations to children in different complex family situations. We find that when a nonresident parent owes support to two nonresident children in different families, the most common policy is to have unequal obligations favoring the older child. However, nearly as many countries achieve equal orders, but do so by reducing the obligation to the older child. When a nonresident parent has one nonresident child and a new resident child, the most common strategy is to reduce the obligation to the older nonresident child, but to make no attempt to equalize obligations for both children. Each of the four main policy strategies we identify has advantages; tradeoffs among three principles of equality, affordability of obligations and protecting the first child''s standard of living are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Early welfare reform research showed high rates of employment for TANF leavers. However, work-focused welfare may not be effective during an economic downturn. We investigate the employment of Wisconsin TANF leavers, contrasting outcomes among early leavers (1998) with those who left during the 2001 recession. We use data from administrative records on about 6000 welfare leavers, tracking quarterly employment for 3 years after they left benefits. Separate panel data analyses of those exiting in two different time periods show that individual leavers are less likely to be employed when their local unemployment rate is high in the later cohort; no relationship is found for the early cohort. In a panel analysis in which the cohorts are combined, we find that leavers in the later cohort, who experienced the recession early in their post-welfare career, are less likely to be employed, a result that holds controlling for observed and unobserved characteristics. These findings raise questions about how well single-parent families and their children will fare during difficult economic times now that welfare reform has such a strong emphasis on work. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Over time, public policy changes have strengthened the private child support system while reducing access to public support—welfare. Given the especially limited availability of public support, nonresident fathers’ economic contributions through child support can play an important role in helping children to avoid poverty. In this article, the authors review evidence on nonresident fathers’ ability to pay support, provide an overview of the way child support policies affect disadvantaged fathers, and propose new directions for child support policy. The authors argue that the current work-focused safety net, which aims to require and help to enable disadvantaged mothers to work, creates a context in which government should similarly require and help to enable all fathers, even those who are disadvantaged, to work and pay child support. However, reforms are needed to make this a realistic expectation, given many fathers’ limited employment options and complex families. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on the rapid growth rates among father-only families in the U.S. The growth in the number of single-parent families in the U.S. during the second half of this century has been well documented. Recent research has revealed increases in both father-only and mother-only families, although the number of father-only families is still fairly small. After decreasing during the 1960s and early 1970s, the percentage of single-parent families headed by fathers began to increase in 1974. By 1989 father-only families constituted more than 15 per cent of all single-parent families, roughly the same level as in the early 1960s. The unit of analysis for this study is a family with children under age 18. The data come from the Public Use Microdata Samples drawn from the 1960 through 1990 United States decennial censuses. These samples are large enough to enable researchers to focus on groups that arc not very prevalent. Goal of this article is to categorize each family with children as a mother-only family, a father-only family, a husband-wife family, or a cohabiting family.

The article evaluates myths concerning custodial fathers and child custody. It is observed that men are increasingly receiving custody of their children and single-father families with children are increasing at a faster rate than even single-mother families. However, many observers still believe that there are few custodial fathers. The authors note five commonly held beliefs about custodial fathers. These are: There are not very many father-only families; Most custodial fathers have remarried; Many of the single fathers are widowers and very few have never been married; Custodial fathers have high incomes; and the last is that fathers primarily receive custody of older boys. On examining several data and statistics, the authors found that many of these beliefs about custodial fathers are not true. The changes in the composition of father-only families by marital status actually are quite similar to the changes in the composition of mother-only families. Further, it was found that even though the incomes of father-only families are substantially higher than those of mother-only families, a significant number of father-only families live in poverty.

Despite efforts to strengthen child support enforcement over the past decades, the level of unpaid child support remains high. High child support arrears create problems for families and states; however, our understanding of how arrears accumulate is limited. Using longitudinal data from Wisconsin administrative records for noncustodial fathers, this article examines patterns of the evolution of child support arrears. We develop a scheme to categorize long-term arrears changes and identify six typical trajectories of arrears evolution that distinguish the timing and pattern of changes in debt. We conclude with the implications of the results for child support policy and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]