Child support is a contentious topic, as it is an issue that comes up when two people are often at their most vulnerable and explosively emotional point during a divorce. While most parents want what is best for their child or children, child support can become an issue between two otherwise-level-headed adults who feel that they are being treated unfairly by the system. To properly understand the policy and logistical considerations of the child support system in the United States, it is important to keep in mind that there are a wide variety of extenuating factors that dictate the amount and type of child support that the non-custodial parent is required to provide; however, for the purposes of simplicity, this literature review will consider overarching trends and generalizations in regards to child support payments as they are applicable in the United States.
There are many questions that must be answered regarding how family court cases are handled when it comes to paternity, child support, and custodial arrangements. In Measuring Family Strengths (2003), the researchers examined how family court cases involving child custody and child support are usually handled in the United States. The researchers postulated that family courts are primarily concerned with child protection and child support, making every attempt to act in the best interests of the child, rather than as a punitive measure for the adults in the child’s life (Measuring Family Strengths, 2003). Although this study was focused on Newfoundland rather than the United States, the general structure of the family court system is similar enough that the findings of the study can be applied cautiously to family court actions in the United States.
This study utilized both qualitative and quantitative data to determine that family court cases form a high percentage of all cases that are handled within the territory of Newfoundland . This holds true for the United States as well; in many places family court cases make up a vast number of active court cases on the docket at any given time (Case et al., 2003).
In the Case et al. (2003) study, the researchers used quantitative research strategies to determine the trends that existed in child support payments from 1968 to 1997. Although this study utilized data that is somewhat out-of-date today, the trends were notable enough that they can be extrapolated. The researchers discovered that political, economic, and demographic forces exert downward pressure on child support payments.
Determining whether or not this downward pressure on child support payments due to political, demographic, and economic forces favors male or female parents is somewhat trickier, however. The researchers were not clear on the exact demographic qualities that were examined in the study; however, the study did determine that gender was one of the demographic factors that exerted a downward force on child support payments (Case et al., 2003). Because of this downward pressure, it might be concluded that child support is skewed towards the female parent: if she is the non-custodial parent, she will have to pay less for child support; if she is the custodial parent, then she will receive more from the male parent in terms of child support payments (Case et al., 2003).
If this is the case, then there may be sociological and socio-economic reasons that the court system in the United States favors women in this way-- for example, many women make less money than their male counterparts, or perhaps some of these women were housewives before they were divorced making them unused to working and perhaps less employable than their former partners (Case et al., 2003). Regardless of whether or not the favoritism is an act of leveling the playing field, however, the fact remains that often women are paid more for child support than their male counterparts.
Bradshaw et al. (1993) come to a similar conclusion regarding the nature of child support payments for the male and female parent in a divorce situation. In their research, the researchers hypothesized that child support would negative impact male non-custodial parents, with an alternative hypothesis that the child support system would not impact negatively on male non-custodial parents. However, this paper was more expansive and examined a multitude of different countries and their various child support systems, effectively nullifying the problems posed by other studies: cultural, socio-economic, political, and demographic differences were effectively minimized in this study because the study was so inclusive (Bradshaw et al., 1993).
Bradshaw et al. (1993) found two key facts regarding child support payments across a multitude of different countries and cultures. The study found that if an individual is contacted by a child support agency, it is beneficial for the individual to respond to the inquiry rather than ignoring it; ignoring summons or inquiries can often lead to legal and financial penalties (Bradshaw et al, 1993).
Similarly, Bradshaw et al. (1993) discovered that it is important to determine paternity for the potential father of a child when a divorce is happening within a family. If paternity cannot be verified or the paternity of the child is in question, a father accepting paternity of a child can be a legally-binding contract in many places, so DNA paternity testing should be done when there is a question of the child's paternity (Bradshaw et al., 1993). If paternity cannot be established, then a man who has been acting as a parent should not, in most countries, be held responsible for the welfare of a child (Bradshaw et al., 1993).
Frasca (2002) researched the difficult question of how socio-economic status ties into the issue of child support. When a family is poor and the parents divorce, the amount of money that the non-custodial parent can pay for child support is much lower than that of a wealthy family. When a wealthy family whose child wants for nothing splits up, there is certainly a question of how much money the non-custodial parent should pay to the custodial parent to ensure that the child is taken care of adequately (Frasca, 2002).
The researchers asked the question of how higher income relates to child support payments for wealthy families, with the hypothesis that high income from the non-custodial parent will lead to efficient and effective child support. The alternative hypothesis suggested in this particular study was that high income affects child support negatively; Frasca (2002) determined, however, that high rates of income do not necessarily impact positively on child support payments.
There are many reasons why high rates of income may not impact positively on child support payments. One of the key reasons suggested by Frasca (2002) is that individuals with high incomes can often afford lawyers that can effectively navigate the family law system, ensuring that their clients do not pay high rates of child support relative to their income as lower-income non-custodial parents may have to (Frasca, 2002). In addition, high income families may not need child support payments in the same way that lower-income families do; often, these cases may be settled outside of court with no child-support payments or alimony payments necessary in the divorce agreement (Frasca, 2002).
Perhaps the most important research done into whether or not men are unfairly treated by the child support system in the United States is entitled “Preparation of a Program to Support Social Reforms” (2003). The researchers for this study hypothesized that men and women have different abilities regarding their ability to pay for child support, and this is why different levels of child support are suggested for men and women (“Preparation of a Program to Support Social Reforms,” 2003).
However, this study also found that family courts in the United States frequently set levels of child support payments that are too high for male parents to meet, creating a system in which child support payments are not met, paychecks are garnished, and men are penalized for being unable to meet the high standards set by the court (“Preparation of a Program to Support Social Reforms,” 2003).
This was similarly the case in the research done entitled “Focus” (n.d.) in which it was determined that fathers were often taxed financially by their child support payments, and were unable to meet the standard set by the courts. When this happens, men who may not otherwise have caused problems with the law become mired in legal trouble, and may spend many years having their wages garnished and living well below the poverty line as a result of the very high child support payments that they are required to make (“Focus,” n.d.).
The research is inconclusive on whether or not the family law system in the United States is universally unfair towards male non-custodial parents. However, it seems clear that in some cases, male non-custodial parents are certainly treated unfairly by the system.
References
Bradshaw, J., Ditch, J., & Holmes, H. (January 01, 1993). A comparative study of child support in fifteen countries. Journal of European Social Policy, 1993, 255-271.
Focus. (n.d.). Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP), University of Wisconsin--Madison.
Frasca, R. (January 01, 2002). Economic Issues and Arguments in High Income Child Support Cases. Journal of Forensic Economics, 15, 31-44.
Measuring Family Strengths. (September 06, 2003). Indicators, 2, 3, 71-104.
Preparation of a Program to Support Social Reforms. (May 01, 2003). Problems of Economic Transition, 46, 1, 5-93.
