Even with perfect enforcement, child support on its own will never be enough to lift many single-mother families out of poverty. This raises another important policy question. Nonresident fathers are not all alike. In Wisconsin, the average income of nonmarital fathers when paternity is established is half that of divorced fathers, but nonmarital fathers incomes grow over time. Studies consistently report that most nonresident fathers could afford to pay more child support.
Few fathers fall into poverty because of the amount they are paying.
Moreover, few would fall into poverty even if they paid all that was due. About one fifth of married and cohabiting mothers who separate received AFDC in the year after separation. Almost half of unmarried teen mothers receive welfare in the year after the child s birth. Whether contact benefits children depends on what happens during the contact, specifically, how much conflict occurs between parents. When parents maintain a high level of conflict, children suffer.