The Effects of Background Characteristics of Attorneys and Judges on Decision Making in Domestic Relations Court

The purposes of this research were: (1) to determine whether background characteristics of attorneys and judges affect the awarding of child support orders and (2) to determine whether institution of 1987 Ohio child support guidelines provides predictable and fair child support awards. It was concluded that the two sets of background characteristics had separate effects on the awarding of child support oders. Attorney's background characteristics affected receipt of child support awards. Judges' background characteristics affected amount of child support awards. Institution of the 1987 Ohio child support guidelines did not provide predictable and fair child support awards. Attorneys were found to be reluctant to win child support awards for their clients. Judges with low integrity scores were found to be deviating from the 1987 Ohio child support guidelines.     

Deadbeat dads or inept states? A comparison of child support enforcement systems.

This article provides information on the effectiveness of state child support enforcement systems. We use individual level data from the Child Support Supplements of the Current Population Surveys (1978-1992) to create an index of state effectiveness that captures success at securing child support awards, setting award levels, and collecting obligations. We identify states that were performing above or below the national average in the late 1980s to early 1990s and states that showed substantial improvement or decline in child support effectiveness during the 1980s. Identifying successful states will help researchers to determine what policies and practices are associated with successful enforcement. These variations in state effectiveness also suggest that low levels of child support are not due to deadbeat dads alone but also to inept states.     

Child Support Awards

Child support is an important factor in the financial well-being of divorced mothers who have dependent children. Although the financial effects of child support awards have been studied for a number of groups, they have not typically been explored inrelation to "in-kind" income factors such as insurance payments that may be part of a divorce settlement. Data on divorce awards were collected from court records. Child support awards were examined to determine which factors influence the likelihood of award and the amount of child support awarded. Factors which were found to differentially influence amount of child support awarded were home ownership, award of alimony, length of marriage and award of in-kind income.     

Can Adequate Child Support Be Legislated? Responses to Guidelines and Enforcement

This article explores the relationship between noncustodial parents' willingness to pay child support, state child support guidelines and enforcement efforts, and child support awards and subsequent compliance. Our game theoretic model, which distinguishes cases of asymmetric information from cases of symmetric information, demonstrates that guidelines and increased enforcement can increase payments when awards are court-ordered but may not increase payments and could even reduce child expenditures when some payment would otherwise have occurred voluntarily. Our analyses of awards to divorced or separated mothers from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth are consistent with the model.     

Child support guidelines: Economic theory and policy considerations

Federal legislation has mandated that all states develop numeric guidelines for child support awards in divorce and paternity suits. The purpose of this article is to review the theoretical models currently used in guidelines development and to present an analysis of issues pertinent to the development and use of guidelines. A familiarity with the principles underlying child support guidelines will assist family scientists who may be called upon to provide expertise on this public policy issue.Barbara R. Rowe is Family Resource Management Extension Specialist, College of Family Life, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-2949. Her research interests include the economics of divorce and at-home-income-generation. She received her Ph.D. from Oregon State University.     

The Role of Coercion in Affecting Women's Inferior Outcomes in Divorce

An investigation was conducted by the author into concessions of rightful property, child support and maintenance awards from ex-spouses under pressures from emotional blackmail of coercion. Information was obtained from legal and sociological literature, divorce records in Hennepin County, Minnesota, along with informal interviews with one attorney and eight divorced women. Spousal attempts at coercion during divorce negotiations may influence some women to make stipulations, agreements honored by this court, to less child support, property and/or maintenance than suggesteed guidelines or if they were to litigate those matters through the court system. This has economic, theoretical, therapeutic and research implications.     

Noncustodial Fathers Following Divorce

Noncustodial fathers are men whose parental rights and obligations have been altered through judicial action, usually accompanying marital separation and divorce. In the majority of divorces, physical and legal custody of children is taken from fathers and reassigned to mothers only. Despite the curtailment of their decision-making authority and despite the limitations imposed on their day-to-day presence in their children’s lives, in the majority of divorces fathers retain the duty to provide economic support for their minor children. The bulk of quantitative research on the post-divorce involvement of men as noncustodial fathers is structured by explora- tion of the interrelationships among these parameters: child custody awards, visitation privileges and performance, child support awards and compliance, and child well-being. The documentation of important linkages between child support compliance and child outcome have focused both social science and legislative attention on means to foster greater paternal acceptance of responsibility for children. Research using open-ended interviews and smaller surveys of limited samples have been of great importance in providing a richer understanding of the noncustodial father-child relationship. To retain(or for some, to build for the first time) a meaningful paternal relationship, men are challenged to find new ways to confront issues of autonomy, connectedness and power. However, societal supports for moving beyond the traditional polarization of genders and roles through which families have been organized are sorely lacking. The ways in which men respond to the changes precipitated by divorce are influenced by a number of factors related to their own self-definition as well as to the broader social context in which they operate. In order to design psychoeducational or therapeutic interventions that allow noncustodial fathers to adapt in ways that are beneficial to themselves and ultimately to their children, an awareness of these factors is imperative.     

Are economic trends associated with child maltreatment? Preliminary results from the recent recession using state level data

The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of the recent economic recession on child maltreatment rates. Specifically, we examine whether unemployment rates, labor force participation, and food stamp usage are associated with aggregate rates of child abuse and neglect (CAN) rates using state-level data. Theory and prior empirical evidence supports the relationship between family and neighborhood poverty and incidence of child maltreatment; however, the relationship between general economic environment and CAN remains unclear.The study uses a multiple case study design at the state level, analyzing administrative child maltreatment and economic data for seven U.S. states. Aggregate numbers for child maltreatment reports and food stamp usage were obtained from state respective agencies and economic data for unemployment and labor force from the Current Population Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Empirical growth plots and OLS regression were used to examine changes in maltreatment and utilization of economic variables as predictors over time. Bivariate correlations and OLS regression results show a weak and inconsistent relationship between the economic indicators in this study and maltreatment rates. Several possible reasons accounting for these results are explored.     

Standards of Adequacy for Child Support Awards

This study examined the adequacy of child support income for children of divorce. A random sample of 186 final divorce decrees finalized in Hennepin County, Minnesota in 1986 and involving minor children were used in the analyses. Income adequacy was defined as the extent to which income provides a level of living which meets reasonable needs. Income adequacy was measured by ratios of income to income needs uding three indicators of income and three standards of needs. Income-to-needs ratios were constructed to evaluate the adequacy of child support income. Results of the study supported the assumption that the child support award did not provide a satisfactory level of income for children. This result was consistent using the actual court-ordered child support award, the amount of income which would have been given if the Minnesota guidelines had been strictly applied, or income which might have been given to the child if Wisconsin guidelines had been applied. Actual court-ordered child support awards deviated downward from the established guidelines by about $18.14 monthly. The downward deviations from guidelines were greater at higher income levels. The income-to-needs ratios of the actual court-ordered awards did not exceed 50% of the direct costs of raising children until the net annual income of the obligor exceeded $12,000-$18,000 and did not provide income over the poverty level until the obliger's income reached $24,000.     

LEGISLATING LOVE: The Effect of Child Support and Welfare Policies on Father–child Contact

Reducing non-marital childbearing and making nonresidential fathers take greater responsibility for their children were identified as goals of numerous policy changes since the 1980s. Child-support award rates for children born to unmarried parents have been quite low historically, leading lawmakers to focus on increasing both award and payment rates for this group. Nonmarital fathers are also much less likely to have contact with their children. Although evidence suggests that policy efforts increase child support awards and receipt, the link between child support policies, child support outcomes, and father-child contact has received less attention. This paper uses data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation on children born between 1985–1997 to investigate the relationship between child-support award and receipt and the amount of contact that fathers have with their non-residential children. Since it is likely that both of these behaviors are, in part, determined by unobservable characteristics of the father, we estimate an instrumental variables Tobit model. The model is identified by our assumption that child support policy variables can impact child support awards and payments, but father-child contact cannot be directly legislated. Our results suggest that there are unintended, but desirable effects of child support establishment and collection. Policies to collect child support not only increase financial resources to families, but through their impact on payments increase visitation and contact between these children and their fathers. The estimated impact of receiving child support on contact is more than 27 days per year.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Economic Association, Washington DC, January 2003 and the Annual Meetings of the Association of Public Policy and Management, November 2003. Support from NICHD Grant # HD30944 is gratefully acknowledged. We would like to thank Suzann Eshleman for excellent computer programming and James Scully for providing us with data on genetic testing laws.     

Unequal opportunities among unequal states: The importance of examining state characteristics in making social welfare policies regarding children

This paper examines the disparate social well-being outcomes children experience across states in the United States. The paper seeks to extend the study of child social well-being by examining the extent to which state characteristics influence aggregate child social well-being outcomes. The results indicate that socioeconomic and population characteristics of states influence the magnitude of aggregate child social well-being deficits. It is argued that the disparities in child social well-being outcomes for children across states should be taken into consideration in the current welfare reform climate. Because states have gained greater control over programs that assist the poorest and most vulnerable families and children, states with large child social well-being deficits will likely experience even larger deficits as many state TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) policies and practices do not adequately support poor families.     

Mothers and child care: policies,values and theories

Government expansion of child care services is based on the assumption that both parents are employed (the adult worker model) and make cost‐benefit calculations in choosing child care (the rational economic choice model). This paper addresses this assumption, based on research examining mothers' assessments of appropriate child care. These assessments involve complex moral and emotional decisions around their own and their children's needs, and differ between social groups. On this basis, we conclude that the assumptions underlying current child care expansion policy are inadequate, and that the mere expansion of services is not enough.     

Estimating minimum adequate foster care costs for children in the United States

Although foster care homes play a crucial role in providing stable placements to children who enter the child welfare system due to maltreatment, there is currently no federal minimum rate nor standard methodology to establish adequate rates to support foster parents to meet these children's needs. Therefore, it is important to establish a model to estimate the real costs associated with caring for children to serve as a foundation for states to set adequate reimbursement rates. The objectives of this study are to: use the methodology of a 2007 study to establish foster care minimum adequate rates for children (MARC) based on the child's age and geographical location in every state; update the MARC with cost of living adjustments to 2016; examine changes in gaps between the MARC and the current foster care rates; and identify states that have made increases to their reimbursement rates, relative to the MARC over time. Results found that all but four states provide lower foster care reimbursement rates than the adequate costs in 2016. This study recommends that, at the federal level, enhanced precision in operational definitions of care categories could increase consistency in the way that states reimburse foster families. Additionally, findings provide policy suggestions to establish a national methodology standard and increase foster care rates to the level that will meet children's needs. This study will enhance the scant body of literature found on establishing an economic model to estimate foster care costs.     

Child welfare education and training: future trends and influences

Based on a review of current economic, political, social, and professional trends, the authors propose recommendations for child welfare education and training. Future partnerships between child welfare agencies and schools of social work will need to incorporate cross-system collaboration, multiculturalism, and family-centered approaches with a broader conceptualization of child well-being.     

The Impacts of Human Capital and Need on Alimony

Abstract

Work on the determinants of alimony awards is sparse and often speculative. The present study tests the human capital and needs models of alimony with data from Alabama. The results of Tobit regression analyses provide mixed support for both theories. For example, the human capital model was supported for duration of marriage but not husband's education. The economic need model was supported for age of wife, but not her education or presence of children. While some indicators of both models are written into Alabama's Legal Code on divorce, most indicators of both models are not predictive of alimony awards in practice. Models of alimony should perhaps also look to consensual, normative factors rather than being constrained by those that find expression in legal codes.     

Selected Aspects of Parenting and Children's Social Competence Post-Separation:

The purpose of this study was to assess the moderating effects of child's sex, ace, and family economic hardship on the relationship between (a) residential mother's parenting and frequency of nonresidential father's visitation, and (b) child social competence following marital separation. Dimensions of mother's parenting included loss of time spent with the child since separation, mother's current levels of companionship and coercion, and daily involvement in meaningful activities with the child. Dimensions of children's social competence included dependency, aggression, anxiety/ withdrawal, and productivity. The results indicated that the relationships among mother's parenting, father's visitation, and children's social competence are fairly consistent, regardless of child's age, sex, or level of family economic hardship. The few exceptions are noted and intervention implications are discussed.     

Child poverty and child rights: Edging towards a definition

The purpose of this paper is to consider how one might develop a definition of child poverty that is based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (and the human rights treaties with which it is associated), but also draws on the development of poverty research in the social sciences. It focuses in particular on Article 27(1) of the Convention because of the Article's dual emphasis on an adequate standard of living as an input and a child's development as an outcome. Three perspectives in the social sciences – economic welfare, capabilities, and social exclusion – are compared in order to determine what they can contribute to this input- and outcome-based definition of child poverty. All are found to have advantages and disadvantages. The paper concludes that there are two challenges faced by researchers and policymakers: first, the construction of conversion factors used in the capability approach to link inputs to outcomes; and second, the adoption of national inequality-based standards for assessing indicators of child poverty, thus placing the onus on states to reduce child poverty through redistribution.     

Drivers of change: Examining the effects of gender equality on child nutrition

India has the world's highest burden of child undernutrition. Lack of income is considered as one of its primary causes. However, evidence suggests that despite steady economic growth and investments in social services directed towards child welfare, undernutrition rates continue to rise. Thus indicating, that there are other societal factors impacting child undernutrition. Previous studies indicate that countries with higher gender inequality have worse health outcomes for women and children. India, particularly in the northern states, has deep-rooted gender biases, leading to disproportionately worse outcomes for women and children. This study uses cross sectional data from the India National Family Health Survey Round-3 (NFHS-3) to examine the immediate and underlying effect of gender inequality on child nutritional status. The sample includes urban married women between 15 and 49 years (N = 9092) who have at least one living child between 0 and 5 years. Findings highlight the significant effect of autonomy and health related awareness on child nutritional status, when the relationship is mediated by maternal health. Implications for policy and practice are provided.     

Do child welfare job preview videos reflect evidence on retention and turnover?

To maintain a well-trained, competent work force and reduce turnover, child welfare agencies must use effective recruitment and retention practices. Many states use realistic job preview videos to recruit and retain appropriate, well-matched staff. The purpose of this study is to assess the content of child welfare realistic job preview videos to determine whether the content reflects current evidence on child welfare retention and turnover, and the mechanisms through which realistic job previews are most effective. The study involves content analysis of realistic job preview videos posted at the Child Welfare Information Gateway. A comparison of video content to findings from research on child welfare retention and turnover, and to research on realistic job preview effectiveness reveals some ways that the content of child welfare recruitment and retention efforts could be strengthened.     

Parental Housing Assistance and Parent‐Child Proximity in Italy

Many studies of intergenerational exchanges include parent‐child proximity as an exogenous explanatory variable. Proximity may itself be a consequence of intergenerational resource flows, however. We analyze patterns of economic transfers between generations and their relationship to parent‐child proximity in Italy. Parental support for a child's home purchase may influence the child's choice of location, whether to facilitate parent‐child contacts, grandchild care, or parent care. We examine the situation of married couples, focusing on housing help received and the association of that help with proximity to each spouse's parents. Using 1998 survey data and multinomial logistic regression models, we find that past housing assistance has a significant effect on current proximity to each spouse's parents, controlling for parents' survival, family composition, and other factors.