The Regular Receipt of Child Support: 2017
The results of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2018 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) tells a story about the receipt of child support in 2017. Specifically, this report analyzes the data on who received support, the amount received, and the frequency of receipt.
Read MoreCharacteristics of Custodial Parents and Their Children
Using data from a 2018 U.S. Census Bureau survey, this brief analyzes characteristics of parents and children who are receiving child support services and compares them to families who don’t use the program. As of April 2018, there were 12.9 million custodial parents in the nation. 7.9 million of these parents participated in the child support program. This brief includes information on the age, sex, race and ethnicity, marital status, employment status of these parents, as well as data on living arrangements and visitation for the child with the noncustodial parent.
Read MoreDemographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics of Nonresident Parents
More than 9.7 million parents in the United States don’t live with their children. Recognizing the important role nonresident parents play in their children’s life, policymakers requested data on nonresident parents and suggestions for beneficial policies. The data in this report, obtained from the 2018 Survey of Income and Program Participation, captured demographic, relationship, and economic information.
Read MoreStory Behind the Numbers: Millennials in the Child Support Program
Millennials are on the verge of passing the Baby Boomers as the country’s largest adult generation. This report uses data from the Federal Case Registry and Debtor File and survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics to analyze the role of the millennials in the child support program.
Read MoreFinal Implementation Findings from the Child Support Noncustodial Parent Employment Demonstration (CSPED) Evaluation
In FFY 2012, the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) funded a demonstration grant project, the Child Support Noncustodial Parent Demonstration (CSPED), to gauge the effectiveness of child support-led employment programming for noncustodial parents. Eight states received grants. This report documents the design and implementation of the different programs and identifies best practices for and…
Read MoreThe Child Support Performance and Incentive Act at 20: Examining Trends in State Performance
Twenty years have passed since Congress enacted P.L. 105-200, the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act (CSPIA), dramatically restructuring the child support performance incentive system. Prior to its passage in 1998, there was growing concern that the incentive system lacked an effective impetus for improving state progress toward achieving the program’s goals since all states…
Read MoreCharacteristics of Families Served by the Child Support (IV-D) Program: 2016 U.S. Census Survey Results
This report uses the latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau to describe custodial families served by the IV-D program, a federally mandated program that promotes parental responsibility and family self-sufficiency by providing families with child support services.
Read More2015 OCSE Annual Report to Congress
This report, published by the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, highlights financial and statistical program achievements based on data reported by state and tribal child support agencies. The report includes information on collections, expenditures, paternities and orders established, and other program statistics.
Read MoreThe Story Behind the Numbers: Exploring Trends in the Percent of Orders for Zero Dollars
OCSE collects data from state child support agencies on the number of support orders that do not have a dollar support amount, referred to as zero orders. These may reflect different types of orders – medical support only, shared custody, arrears only, or current support with no amount due. Zero orders have been increasing over time…
Read More2017 Preliminary Report
The FY 2017 Preliminary Report provides data for the past five fiscal years reported by state, District of Columbia, and U.S. territory child support programs and includes information on collections, expenditures, paternities, orders established, and other program statistics. The data is used to develop the Annual Report to Congress.
Read MoreThe Story Behind the Numbers: Exploring Trends in the Percent of Orders for Zero Dollars
The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement collects data from state child support agencies on the number of support orders that do not have a dollar support amount, referred to as zero orders. These may reflect different types of orders – medical support only, shared custody, arrears only, or current support with no amount due.…
Read More2016 OCSE Annual Report to Congress
The 2016 Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) Annual Report to Congress highlights financial and statistical child support achievements based on data reported by state and tribal child support agencies. The content of the Annual Report is mandated by Section 452(a) under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act to give congressional members information that…
Read MoreCustodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2015
This report provides an overview of children who have one parent living outside of the household and their custodial parents. The data used for this report are from the Child Support Supplement (CSS) to the April 2016 Current Population Survey (CSS) which provides demographic information about custodial parents as of 2016, as well as child…
Read MoreChild Support: An Overview of Census Bureau Data on Recipients
The national Census Bureau data show that in 2013, 13.4 million parents had custody of children under the age of 21 while the other parent lived elsewhere, and the aggregate amount of child support received was $22.5 billion. In 2013, almost 83% of custodial parents were mothers. Of all custodial parents, 48% were white (non-Hispanic),…
Read MoreLife After Welfare
This report, which includes a chapter on child support, examines outcomes of Maryland families who left cash assistance, focusing on their characteristics, employment and earnings outcomes, and the receipt of other public benefits. The main findings indicate that families’ financial situations improved after exiting Maryland’s Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) program, compared with their circumstances before…
Read MoreThe U.S. Wage Garnishment Landscape: Through the Lens of the Employer
This is a follow-up to its initial 2014 wage garnishment analysis in a report entitled, Garnishment: The Untold Story. For its most recent analysis, the ADP Research Institute used aggregated, anonymous 2016 payroll data of 12 million employees. The study found that child support continues to be the top reason for wage garnishment (also known…
Read MoreGarnishment: The Untold Story
The ADP Research Institute analyzed aggregated, anonymous 2013 payroll data of 13 million employees. Child support was found to be the top reason for wage garnishment (also known as income withholding). The ADP RI learned that that 7.2% of employees aged 16 years and over had their wages garnished, and of those employees whose wages…
Read MoreExpenditures on Children by Families, 2015 Revised
Since 1960, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has provided estimates of annual expenditures on children from birth through age 17. This technical report, originally published in January 2017 and revised in March 2017, presents the 2015 estimates for married-couple and single-parent families. Results are shown in tables 1-7 at the end of this report.…
Read More2016 Preliminary Report
The FY 2016 Preliminary Report provides data for the past five fiscal years reported by state, District of Columbia, and U.S. territory child support programs and includes information on collections, expenditures, paternities, orders established, and other program statistics.
Read MoreMaryland’s Child Support Caseload – A Profile of Custodians, 2015
Using Maryland data, the authors analyze current support and arrears owed to custodians, payments received by custodians, and payments retained by the state. Specifically, the authors utilize a sample of custodians who had active cases in July 2015 and examine each of these topics for the period of July 2014 through June 2015. The report…
Read MoreThe Story Behind the Numbers: The Child Support Program is a Good Investment
This paper takes a closer look at trends in child support program data and other data that affects the program. This paper explains why the child support program is a good investment. FY 2015 set a new record for achieving child support program results. In FY 1977, shortly after the program began, the child support…
Read MoreExpenditures on Children by Families 2015
Since 1960, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has provided estimates of annual expenditures on children from birth through age 17. This technical report presents the 2015 estimates for married-couple and single-parent families. Results are shown in tables 1-7 at the end of this report. Expenditures are provided by age of children, household income level,…
Read MoreThe Story Behind the Numbers: Focused on Performance
This paper describes the dramatic improvements in performance that the child support program has made since the enactment of its federally mandated performance system in 1998. The growth in child support collections is reviewed, highlighting three factors that influence collections: (1) program investments; (2) employment and earnings of parents who owe child support; and (3)…
Read MoreThe Limited Reach of the Child Support Enforcement System
This report examines the declining caseload in the national child support enforcement program in comparison to the population of child support-eligible families, which has remained unchanged over the past two decades. The report attributes most of the decline to the reduction in Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) cases, which shrinks the pipeline of mandatory…
Read MoreThe Child Support Enforcement Program: A Review of Data
This report, prepared by the Congressional Research Service, examines the IV-D child support caseload, collection, and expenditure data from Fiscal Year (FY) 1978 through FY 2015. It also presents more detailed data, gathered from state-submitted reports to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, on collections, expenditures, paternity establishment, child support order establishment, cost-effectiveness, and…
Read More2014 OCSE Annual Report to Congress (Part 3 of 3)
The 2014 OCSE Annual Report to Congress highlights financial and statistical child support achievements based on data reported by state and tribal child support agencies. The content of the Annual Report is mandated by section 452(a) under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act to give Congressional members information that relates to the overall operations…
Read More2014 OCSE Annual Report to Congress (Part 2 of 3)
The 2014 OCSE Annual Report to Congress highlights financial and statistical child support achievements based on data reported by state and tribal child support agencies. The content of the Annual Report is mandated by section 452(a) under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act to give Congressional members information that relates to the overall operations…
Read More2014 OCSE Annual Report to Congress (Part 1 of 3)
The 2014 OCSE Annual Report to Congress highlights financial and statistical child support achievements based on data reported by state and tribal child support agencies. The content of the Annual Report is mandated by section 452(a) under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act to give Congressional members information that relates to the overall operations…
Read MorePreliminary Report 2015
The FY 2015 Preliminary Report provides data reported by all state child support programs to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement and includes information on collections, expenditures, paternities, orders established, and other program statistics. This report does not contain data from tribal child support programs. Tribal data will be reported in the FY 2015…
Read MoreChild Support: An Overview of the Census Bureau Data on Recipients
The United States Census Bureau periodically collects national survey information on child support. This report includes a compilation of information from the biennial survey data from 1993-2013. Compared to 1993 Census data, less child support was received by custodial parents in 2013 ($24.8 billion in 1993 versus $22.5 billion in 2013; in 2013 dollars). However,…
Read MoreChild Support Enforcement: Departures from Long Term Trends in Sources of Collections and Caseloads Reflect Recent Economic Conditions
GAO examined (1) how CSE collections and caseloads have changed in recent years, (2) how states have responded to federal funding changes, and (3) how states have responded to DRA’s “family first” policy options.
Read MoreThe Intersection of Incarceration & Child Support: A Snapshot of Maryland’s Caseload
This is a report on the population of incarcerated parents with child support cases and arrearages.
Read MoreDemographic Survey Results from Nine-State IV-D Programs
In FY 2007, the national child support program served 17 million children and collected $25 billion in child support, yet little is known about the underlying demographic and economic characteristics of the individuals served. To remedy this lack of information, Courtland Consulting and the Urban Institute, under contract with the federal Office of Child Support…
Read MoreConfronting Child Support Debt: A Baseline Profile of Maryland Arrears
This report provides data on the composition of child support arrearages in Maryland.
Read MoreWho Pays Child Support in Baltimore City: Noncustodial Parents Payment Compliance
Baltimore City, Maryland’s caseload represents about one-third of Maryland’s child support cases. With such a large caseload, the payment compliance outcomes in Baltimore City affect the overall state outcomes. This brief examines payment compliance specifically in Baltimore City to determine differences from the rest of the state.
Read MoreChild Support Enforcement: Program Basics
This report provides an overview of the key functions of IV-D child support agencies, including some 2012 preliminary data.
Read MoreCharacteristics of Families Served by the Child Support (IV-D) Program: 2010 Census Survey Results
This report uses the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau to describe custodial families served by the IV-D program, a federally mandated program that promotes parental responsibility and family self-sufficiency by providing families with child support services.
Read MoreWho Pays Child Support: Noncustodial Parents’ Payment Compliance
To better understand patterns of noncustodial parent (NCP) payment compliance, this study builds on what has already been documented about the Maryland public child support caseload and provides a first-ever, systematic look at the question of who pays current support, how much they pay, and how this relates to NCPs’ demographic characteristics, employment patterns, and…
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