Although both mothers and fathers can be ordered to pay support, a 1994 study in Utah found that over a twenty-year period, mothers were required to pay child support in fewer than one in five cases in which fathers received sole custody. A greater proportion of noncustodial fathers were ordered to pay support. A model law, the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act of 1992, which many states have adopted, provides that jurisdiction exists where the child or one of the parents resides. The would-be payer is entitled to blood tests, but in some states must pay for them. Determining Awards Child support awards are made by each state's family court system.
Most states require that they be based on the best interests of the child.
Often, courts feel pressure to balance children's needs with their parents' needs. Awards are based on the noncustodial parent's ability to pay, and must allow the parent to remain self-supporting. Many associations of noncustodial parents emerged in the 1980s and 1990s to express their belief that awards were burdensome to the payers, benefited only the custodial parent, or did not provide payers with enough in return. At the same time, more single parents with children slipped into poverty than had at any other point in the nation's history. Most states had established their own guidelines in the quest for fair standards.