Child Support: An Overview of Census Bureau Data on Recipients
Released: 2016-03-01T00:00:00

Introduction

The U.S. Census Bureau periodically collects national survey information on child support. By interviewing a random sample of single-parent families, the Census Bureau is able to generate an array of data that is useful in assessing the performance of noncustodial parents in paying their child support. Although the Ce nsus Bureau has been collecting child support information in a special Child Support Supplement to the April Current Population Survey (CPS) biennially since 1978, the supplement survey has changed significantly over the years. According to the Census Bureau, the most recent data, from 2013, are comparable only back to 1993. During the early years of the survey, information was collected only from custodial mothers. Beginning with the 1991 data, information was also collected from custodial fathers. This report presents unsegmented data with respect to custodial mothers and fathers (i.e., custodial parents' data). The survey population includes all persons who have their own children under the age of 21 living with them, while the other parent lives outside the household.

The Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program was enacted in 1975 as part of P.L. 93-647 (Title IV-D of the Social Security Act). It is a federal-state program whose purpose is to help strengthen families by securing financial support for children from their noncustodial parent on a consistent and continuing basis, and by helping some families to remain self-sufficient and off public assistance by providing the requisite CSE services. The CSE program is administered by the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and funded by general revenues. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands operate CSE programs and are entitled to federal matching funds. The CSE program provides seven major services on behalf of children: (1) parent location, (2) paternity establishment, (3) establishment of child support orders, (4) review and modification of child support orders, (5) collection of child support payments, (6) distribution of child support payments, and (7) establishment and enforcement of medical child support. The CSE program is estimated to handle at least 50% of all child support cases; the remaining cases are handled by private attorneys, collection agencies, or through mutual agreements between the parents.

In FY2013, the CSE program collected $28.0 billion in child support payments (from noncustodial parents) and served 15.6 million child support cases. The national Census Bureau data show that the aggregate amount of child support received in 2013 was $22.5 billion, and that 13.4 million parents had custody of children under the age of 21 while the other parent lived elsewhere.

In 2013, almost 83% of custodial parents were mothers. Of all custodial parents, 48% were white (non-Hispanic), 25% were black, 23% were Hispanic, 16% were married, 33% were divorced, 38% were never married, 13% did not have a high school diploma, almost 20% had at least a bachelor's degree, 50% worked full-time year-round, 29% had family income below poverty, and nearly 43% received some type of public assistance (i.e., Medicaid, food stamps, public housing or rent subsidy, TANF, or general assistance).

Child Support Awarded and Received

Table 1 summarizes several child support indicators from biennial survey data for selected years from 1993 through 2013. The table shows that the likelihood of having a child support award, being legally entitled to a child support payment, and actually receiving at least one child support payment decreased over the 21-year period from 1993 through 2013. In contrast, the percentage of custodial parents (owed child support) who received the full amount of the child support that they were owed increased by almost 24%, from 37% in 1993 to 46% in 2013.

In 2013, about 49% of the 13.4 million custodial parents (with children under the age of 21) were awarded child support. Of those who were actually due child support payments (5.7 million), about 74% of them received at least one payment and almost 46% received all that they were owed. In 2013, only 2.6 million (19%) of the 13.4 million custodial parents eligible for child support actually received the full amount of child support that was owed to them. In 2013, the average child support payment received by custodial parents amounted to $3,953, 6.5% higher than the average child support payment in 1993 ($3,712).

In 2013, 68% of the $32.9 billion in aggregate child support due was actually paid. In 1993, 65% of the $38 billion (adjusted for inflation, in 2013 dollars) in child support due was paid. During the 21-year period 1993 through 2013, after adjusting for inflation, aggregate child support due started at $38.0 billion in 1993, fluctuated to a high of $46.9 billion in 2003, and dropped to a low of $32.9 billion in 2013. Over the entire period, aggregate child support due decreased by 13%, total child support received decreased 9%, and the amount left unpaid decreased 21% (see Table 1 ).

Demographic and Economic Characteristics of Custodial Parents Who Were Awarded or Who Received Child Support Payments in 2013

While sex, race, marital status, and education are significant factors in predicting whether a custodial parent will be issued a child support order, award rates tend to be significantly lower than receipt rates. For example, although female custodial parents were almost 1.7 times more likely to be awarded child support in 2013 as their male counterparts, among parents who were owed/due child support, both had at least a 73% chance of actually receiving child support payments. (See Table 2 .) Moreover, in 2013, 37% of black custodial parents were awarded child support compared to 56% of white custodial parents. Even so, nearly 65% of black custodial parents who were owed/due child support actually received child support payments and 79% of white custodial parents who were owed child support actually received child support payments in 2013. Similarly, while 42% of never-married parents were awarded child support in 2013, almost 68% of never-married parents who were owed child support actually received child support payments in 2013. Also, 38% of custodial parents without a high school diploma were awarded child support, while almost 62% of custodial parents without a high school diploma who were owed child support actually received child support.

The pattern of receipt rates being higher than award rates also held for the economic factors listed in Table 2 —in that once a child support obligation was awarded, the probability of actually receiving payments rose significantly for all categories of custodial parents. In 2013, 45% of custodial parents with incomes below the poverty level were awarded child support, and nearly 66% of those owed/due payments actually received child support payments. Table 2 also shows that 49% of custodial parents who worked full-time year-round were awarded child support, while almost 77% of those owed received child support payments. Similarly, 47% of custodial parents who received public assistance were awarded child support, while nearly 67% of those who were owed child support payments actually received child support payments.

Of the categories of custodial parents presented in Table 2 , custodial parents who were divorced followed by custodial parents who were white (non-Hispanic) were the categories of parents most likely to be awarded child support. In 2013, 57.7% of custodial parents who were divorced and 56.4% of white (non-Hispanic) custodial parents were awarded child support. The table also shows that custodial parents with an associate's degree who were owed/due child support was the category of parents most likely to receive child support payments in 2013. In 2013, 83.1% of custodial parents with an associate's degree who were owed payments actually received child support payments.

In 2013, the average yearly child support payment received by custodial parents with payments was $5,333; $5,181 for mothers and $6,526 for fathers. These full or partial payments represented (on average) 14% of the custodial parent's yearly income, 16% of the custodial mothers' total yearly income, and 9% of the custodial fathers'.

In 2013, for custodial parents with income below the poverty level, child support payments for those who received them made up, on average, 49% of their yearly income. In 2013, child support payments made up 13% of the yearly income of custodial parents without a high school diploma who were owed child support and who actually received full or partial payments. In 2013, child support represented about 18% of the income of the 2.6 million custodial parents who received all of the child support that they were owed.

The Census Bureau data also include information on health insurance. In 2013, 54% of the 6.5 million custodial parents with child support awards had awards that included health insurance. The noncustodial parent provided the health insurance coverage in 51.1% of the awards with health insurance provisos and in 10.4% of the awards without health insurance stipulations. Moreover, the noncustodial parent provided health insurance coverage for 19.4% of the nearly 6.9 million custodial parents who did not have a child support award. Overall, 3.5 million noncustodial parents provided health care for their children in 2013. This represented 26.1% of the 13.4 million children under the age of 21 who were living with a custodial parent while their other parent lived elsewhere.