Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support

U.S. Department of Commerce
Economics & Statistics Administration
U. S. Census Bureau
Issued: October, 2002

This report presents data on parents with children whose other parent is not living with the family. It focuses on the child support income that custodial parents reported receiving during the calendar year prior to the survey, as well as other support provided, such as health insurance and noncash support. Because child support is frequently ordered until a child is 21 years old or completes college, this report specifically includes own children under 21, rather than the usual definition used by the Census Bureau of children under 18 years of age. Some children living with neither biological parent, such as those living with grandparents or foster parents, may also be eligible for child support, but are not included in this report.

The source of data is the April 2000 supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS), which provides information for calendar year 1999. This supplement was repeated in April 2002, but those data are not yet available. Some of the households in the sample also participated in the March 2000 CPS, when additional supplemental information, such as income and health insurance coverage in the preceding year, was also collected. Changes to the April CPS supplement in 1994 do not allow for comparisons with CPS data collected before that year. These changes included refining the screening of potential respondents, restructuring the questionnaire to accommodate computerizing the survey, revising terminology that refers to types of child support agreements or awards, increasing the detail in questions about the amount of child support due, including overdue child support (back support) in the amount of child support due, and adding new questions on pass-through payments (child support collected for public assistance recipients by a state enforcement office, some of which passes through to recipients).

All statements in this report have undergone statistical testing, and all comparisons are significant at the 90-percent confidence level. Further information on the source and accuracy of the estimates is at www.bls.census.gov/cps/ads/2000/ssrcacc.htm. Additional detailed tables are available via the Internet at: www.census.gov/hhes/www/chldsupt.html. The amount of child support payments to Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) recipients is likely under reported because some states retain some or all child support collected on behalf of children of custodial parents.