The Impact of Child Support Laws on the Measured Outcomes of Children

Published in the Journal of Legal Issues and Cases in Business Volume 3 – December, 2014, this article documents the results of research performed by the authors in which they tested the hypotheses that 1) children whose families have more money have better outcomes; and 2) states with harsher punishments for failure to pay child support have better compliance with child support than those that don’t.  The authors conclude with recommendations for reform of the child support program that will focus more on the needs of the child.