Child Support: The Dilemma of a Nation.

This paper presents an overview of the development of child support in America. A review of the English common law from which U.S. laws evolved provides a glimpse into the ways that institutions of marriage and the family were viewed in the 19th century. The development of American law reflects the transformation of family structure by technological and economic advances. Changing gender roles, greater control over reproduction, increased longevity, and geographic and occupational mobility, are some factors that are shaped by such advances. These factors exert a powerful influence on marriage and the family; in particular, they have brought about increases in families headed by never-married and divorced mothers. A disproportionate share of these families live in poverty. The collection of child support is seen as a remedy to the burgeoning problem of children and mothers on welfare. This link between welfare and child support has moved the locus of control from a state to a federal issue. The Family Support Act of 1988 has brought about dramatic change in child support through a requirement that states develop a rebuttable presumption schedule. The Family Support Act also moves to narrow gaps in collection of support in two of the most troublesome types of cases, paternity and interstate. Proposals for changing the child support system are discussed. (Author/RH)