Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-qlrfm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-10T14:33:27.981Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Legislating Adequacy: The Impact of Child Support Guidelines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Jessica Pearson ,
Nancy Thoennes  and
Patricia Tjaden
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Three major child support guideline models are currently used in the United States to stimulate adequate levels of child support. To evaluate the effects of these guidelines, we examined cases filed before and after their introduction in three states that enacted different models. Overall, we found a modest increase in child support awards and few differences across models. The most substantial increases occurred in low-income cases in settings in which awards had historically been low. Guidelines also appeared to decrease the likelihood of a zero dollar award in cases that had previously lacked orders: those in which the father was unemployed and in which the obligor was female.

Post-guideline order levels in low-income families still fall short of the best available estimates of expenditures on children in intact households; they match expenditures in intact households in middle-and upper-income families. We consider several factors that may explain the limitations as well as the successes of guidelines in stimulating change.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 23 , Issue 4 , 1989 , pp. 569 - 590
Copyright
Copyright © 1989 The Law and Society Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Law and Society Association, Madison, Wisconsin, June 8–11, 1989. The research was supported by a grant from the State Justice Institute in Alexandria, Virginia. However, the views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the policies of the institute.

References

References

AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION (1984) Attacking Litigation Costs and Delay: Final Report of the Action Commission to Reduce Court Costs and Delay. Washington, DC: American Bar Association.Google Scholar
BAY, Curt, Sanford L., BRAVER, Bruce S., FOGAS, Pamela J., FITZPATRICK, and Sharlene A., WOLCHIK (1988) “New Child Support Guidelines: Changes and Perceived Fairness.” Presented at the Western Psychological Association Convention, Burlingame, CA (April 28).Google Scholar
BRACHNEY, Charles (1988) “Battling Inconsistency and Inadequacy: Child Support Guidelines in the States,” 11 Harvard Women's Law Journal 197.Google Scholar
BUSHARD, Philip (1988) “Time Series Impact Assessment of Child Support Guidelines: Support Awards in Shared Custody Divorces.” Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Public Administration, Arizona State University.Google Scholar
ESPENSHADE, Thomas J. (1984) Investing in Children: New Estimates of Parental Expenditures. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.Google Scholar
FEELEY, Malcolm M. (1983) Court Reform on Trial: Why Simple Solutions Fail. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
GARFINKEL, Irwin, and Patrick, WONG (1987) “Child Support and Public Policy,” Presented to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris (November, 1987).Google Scholar
GLASS, Gene V., George C., TIAO, and Thomas O., MAGUIRE (1971) “The 1900 Revision of German Divorce Laws: Analysis of Data as a Time-Series Quasi-Experiment,” 5 Law & Society Review 539.Google Scholar
GOODE, William J. (1963) World Revolution and Family Patterns. New York“ Free Press.Google Scholar
HASKINS, Ron, Andrew W., DOBELSTEIN, John S., AKIN, and Brad, SCHWARTZ (1985) “Estimates of National Child Support Collections: Potential and the Income Security of Female-Headed Families.” Unpublished. United States Office of Child Support Enforcement, Bush Institute for Child and Family Policy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (April).Google Scholar
JACOB, Herbert (1989) “Another Look at No-Fault Divorce and the Post-Divorce Finances of Women,” 23 Law & Society Review 95.Google Scholar
JOHNSON, Charles, and Bradley C., CANON (1984) Judicial Policies: Implementation and Impact. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.Google Scholar
LEMPERT, Richard, and Joseph, SANDERS (1986) An Invitation to Law and Social Science: Desert, Disputes, and Distribution. New York: Longman.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MELLI, Marigold (1984) “Child Support Awards: A Study of the Exercise of Judicial Discretion.” Paper presented at the Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin.Google Scholar
NEW JERSEY ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE COURT (1987) New Jersey Child Support Guidelines, First Year Evaluation. Trenton, NJ: New Jersey Administrative Office of the Court.Google Scholar
PEARSON, Jessica, Paul, MUNSON, and Nancy, THOENNES (1982) “Legal Change and Child Custody Awards,” 3 Journal of Family Issues 5–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PEARSON, Jessica, and Nancy, THOENNES (1988) “Supporting Children After Divorce: The Influence of Custody on Support Levels and Payments,” 22 Family Law Quarterly 319.Google Scholar
PEARSON, Jessica (1985) “Child Custody, Child Support Arrangements and Child Support Payment Patterns,” 36 Juvenile and Family Court Journal 49.Google Scholar
PETERS, H. Elizabeth (1986) “Marriage and Divorce: Informational Constraints and Private Contracting,” 76 American Economic Review 437.Google Scholar
PRESSMAN, Jeffrey L., and Aaron, WILDAVSKY (1973) Implementation: How Great Expectations in Washington Are Dashed in Oakland. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
RAY, Marilyn L. (1988) “Divorce Settlements: Comparing Outcomes of Three Different Dispute Resolution Mechanisms.” Paper presented at the Law and Society Annual Meetings, Vail, Colorado (June 9–12).Google Scholar
RHEINSTEIN, Max (1960) “Divorce and the Law in Germany: A Review,” 65 American Journal of Sociology 489.Google Scholar
ROSS, H. Laurence, and James P., FOLEY (1987) “Judicial Disobedience of the Mandate to Imprison Drunk Drivers,” 21 Law & Society Review 315.Google Scholar
SAWHILL, Isabel V. (1983) “Developing Normative Standards for Child-Support Payments,” In J. Cassetty (ed.) The Parental Support Obligation: Research, Practice, and Social Policy. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
SEAL, Karen (1977) “A Decade of No-Fault Divorces: What It Meant Financially for Women in California,” 1 Family Advocate 10.Google Scholar
UNITED STATES BUREAU OF THE CENSUS (1985) Child Support and Alimony, 1983. Current Population Reports, Special Ser. P–23, No. 141 (July 1985). Washington, DC: United States Department of Commerce.Google Scholar
WEITZMAN, Lenore J. (1985) The Divorce Revolution: The Unexpected Social and Economic Consequences for Women and Children in America. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
WILCOX, Walter F. (1897) The Divorce Problem: A Study in Statistics. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
WILLIAMS, Robert G. (1987) Development of Guidelines for Establishing and Updating Child Support Orders: Final Report. Washington, DC: National Center for State Courts.Google Scholar
WISHIK, Heather R. (1986) “Economics of Divorce: An Exploratory Study,” 20 Family Law Quarterly 79.Google Scholar

Statutes Cited

Child Support Enforcement Amendments of 1984 (P.L. 98–378) 42 U.S.C. § 1305.Google Scholar
Family Support Act of 1988 (H.R. 1720).Google Scholar
Child Support Guideline for Colorado, (H..B. 1275) Effective Nov. 1, 1986.Google Scholar
Fed. Reg. C.F.R. § 302–56. Guidelines in Determining Child Support for Hawaii Act 332, § 2 (S.L.H. 1986). Promulgated pursuant to H.R.S. 576D–7 (Supp. 1986).Google Scholar
Illinois Child Support Guideline, (H.B. 3068) May 17, 1984.Google Scholar