Effects of Parental Divorce on Children's Financial Support for College Students

No-fault divorce laws, and the lowering of the age of minority from 21 to 18 years have combined to have unintended negative impact on the children of divorce. Previous research has shown that children whose parents are divorced are at increased risk for emotional problems and a reduced standard of living. This study was conducted to learn more about the effects of parental divorce on a young person's access to a college education. A questionnaire was developed to learn how students pay for college, and what non-financial support they receive from parents. The questionnaire was administered to a randomly selected sample 9 of 19 students at a state university. Findings indicated that young people whose parents were divorced received higher Pell grants, were more likely to provide more of their own necessities, and were more likely to repay their college loans themselves. Further, young people whose parents were divorced were much more likely to have their material and fnancial needs met by their custodial parents rather than their noncustodial parents. Implications are that young people with divorced parents may have less financial support for college from their family, and the support they receive is much more likely to come from their custodial than noncustodial parent. Changes in child support laws and financial aid policies are recommended.     

The effect of child support on the labor supply of custodial mothers participating in TANF

Child support is a critical source of income, especially for the growing proportion of children born to unmarried mothers. Current social policy supports custodial parent employment (e.g., the Earned Income Tax Credit [EITC] and other work supports have largely taken the place of an entitlement to cash assistance for single mothers of young children). Given many single mothers' limited earnings potential, child support from noncustodial fathers is also important. This raises questions about the effects of child support on custodial mothers' labor supply, and whether policies that increase child support receipt will thereby discourage mothers' employment. This paper addresses these questions, taking advantage of data from a statewide randomized experiment conducted in Wisconsin. Unlike previous nonexperimental research, we do not find any negative effect of child support on the likelihood to work for pay or the number of hours worked in a given week. Recent U.S. social welfare policies have focused on increasing both custodial mothers' child support collections and their labor supply. The results suggest that these may be compatible policies; the absence of a negative labor supply effect strengthens the potential antipoverty effectiveness of child support.     

A Phenomenological Study of Parental Estrangement

In the United States, the divorce rate is 40% to 50%, according to National Marriage and Divorce Rate Trends (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Gaining an understanding of the lived experience of parental estrangement for a child during the parental divorce was the goal of this study. For the 9 adult participants who experienced parental estrangement as children, each reported themes including anger, disappointment, isolation, control, and impact. In this study, the predominantly alienating parent was the custodial parent. The results indicated that it did not matter if the noncustodial parent lived down the street or several states away; the estrangement that developed was the same for each of them.     

The Parental Divorce Transition:

The Double ABC-X Model of family stress was used to develop a theoretical model of the parental divorce transition. Interview data from 125 former spouses with children were analyzed to investigate the relationship between divorce-related stressors and post divorce well-being. Divorce-related stressors included economic, housing, legal, parent-child, and former spouse components. Well-being included self-esteem, parenting satisfaction, and economic well-being. Using multivariate regression the results indicated that parents' divorce transition was characterized by major role shifts. For custodial mothers, economic well-being correlated negatively with legal stressors. Other significant independent variables were income during marriage, employment, education, number of children, and her remarriage. For noncustodial fathers, parenting satisfaction was correlated negatively with legal and parent-child stressors.     

Visitations and Transfers After Divorce

Recent research reveals that divorce negatively impacts children's welfare as a consequence of the reduction in monetary and time contributions of the non-custodial parent. After divorce, the variables that link the absent parent to the child are visitations, child support transfers, and direct expenditures the non-custodial parent makes on the child. In our framework parents constitute a bilateral exchange economy where the mother is endowed with control over visitations and the father has control over financial resources. We use data from National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (5th follow up) to estimate the parameters of the model. We then use the estimates to simulate the effects of alternative endowment levels (such as joint custody) on the proportion of time spent with the non-custodial parent and the ex post parental income distribution. The results indicate that an endowment of equal time for both parents, reducing time under the mother's control implies a reduction in the child support transfers from the father, and, therefore, a loss in the mother's consumption levels. However, a more equally shared time with the children also increases the father's direct expenditures on the child, with the effect of allowing the mother to spend less on child goods and partially compensate her consumption loss.     

A Preliminary Investigation of Family Systems' Influences on Individual Divorce Adjustment

The influence of family systems variables on family member's divorce adjustment was examined in this study. Subjects included 36 families who had been separated or divorced only once, for 6 to 30 months, and had a child between 6 and 16 years old. The custodial parent completed questionnaires regarding family functioning, single parenting, occurence and subjective evaluation of specific post-divorce events, one child's adjustment to the divorce, and parental divorce adjustment. Data were analyzes using hybrid (stepwise/hierarchical) multiple regression analyses. Sixty-three percent of families were high on the Cohesion and/or Democratic family style dimensions. These family styles were related to healthier, more supportive family relationships and clearer, more direct, communication among family members. Approximately 30 percent of families were high on the Conflict and/or Laissez-Faire family style dimensions. These latter dimensions related less to healthy family relationships and communication styles. Notably, significantly poorer child and/or parental functioning were associated to these latter families. The impact of competent custodial parenting on child and family adjustment to divorce is discussed.     

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.     

Child Custody in Transition

This paper focuses on four major areas of child custody in transition: parental preference, child preference, rights and responsibilities of custodial and noncustodial parents, and joint custody. These issues are addressed with regard to parent vs. parent custody decisions. Current legal and psychological trends in custody contests are reviewed.     

Attachment Theory and Parental Alienation

Following an acrimonious divorce or separation, arguments are frequently presented as to why a child should not be with a nonresident parent. The custodial parent, whether a father or a mother, uses the concept of a child being attached to himself or herself and therefore this should prevent the child from having actual or reasonable contact with the absent parent. This view is based on antagonism between the former partners rather than the importance of the attachment theory being relevant. The attachment theory is also used to discredit the intentions of the noncustodial parent. This is especially the case for the younger child. With older children this is not likely to be as relevant. The history of the development of the attachment theory commencing with Bowlby and Ainsworth is presented, and the counterarguments are also presented. Attachment to the mother is obviously important initially but attachment to the father is equally important to the child and such bonding is likely to lead to positive emotional and behavioral development. It is therefore argued that both fathers and mothers have an important role to play and are, or should be, responsible for the rearing of children. The acrimony between the couple should not be considered as relevant as it is, in fact, the real reason why attachment theory is used against a nonresident parent.     

Risk Reduction Interventions in the Child Custody Relocation Case

Abstract

When a custodial parent chooses to relocate to a new community, the child of divorce faces a life transition that is potentially even more traumatic than the parental break-up. Recent developments in Relocation Law have guided courts to generally allow the custodial parent to move away with the child. Divorce effects research and a recent model of risk assessment for relocation suggest factors that predict potential harm or protection for the child. Family mediators and psychotherapists have important roles to play in reducing the risk. These tasks are described and six aspirational principles of risk reduction for relocation suggested.     

Family expenditures supporting children across income and urbanicity strata

Recent decades have seen growth in the level, geographic distribution, and repercussions of income inequality, with unequal access to enriching resources hypothesized to support the intergenerational transmission of inequality. Yet little evidence delineates economic or contextual variation in resources directed at children. Using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey on 31,842 families, this study assessed how family expenditures vary across income and urbanicity strata. Results found that high income families spent proportionally more of their total budget on child resources and proportionately less on basic needs compared to lower income families. These patterns buttress arguments that access to enriching resources may be an important mechanism through which economic advantage is passed on to the next generation. Results further found that income disparities in expenditures were heightened in large urban areas and tempered in rural areas. Together results highlight both income and urbanicity disparities in families' expenditures on child-promotive resources.     

A Comparison of Children Living in Single-Mother and Single-Father Families

Research comparing children living in single-mother and single-father families has become important due to the increase in the number of parents contesting custody in divorce cases and as the number of single custodial fathers increases. The present study was designed to investigate a number of characteristics relating to children living in single-father families (SFFs) and in single-mother families (SMFs). Previous research has suggested that in the case of separation and/or divorce the mother is the more competent parent to raise the children. However, recent studies have provided some support for the idea that single fathers can be effective single parents. The subject sample included 42 single divorced custodial parents (21 single mothers and 21 single fathers) and their 62 (6- to 16-year-old) children. The measures employed were The Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC; Harter, 1985) and The Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1983). One-way MANCOVA and ANCOVA procedures were performed and it was found that the overall scores of children from single-father families (SFFs) did not differ significantly from children in single-mother families (SMFs) on the SPPC and the CBCL. The implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided.     

Correlates of Psychosocial Adjustment in Adolescents From Divorced Families

The study was designed to identify the factors which predict psychological adjustment among 15 to 18-year-old adolescents whose parents have divorced. Psychosocial adjustment was assessed by the Youth Self Report (Achenbach, 1978, 1991). Predictors included the type of custody arrangement, the psychological adjustment of the custodial parent, factors affecting the adolescent's relationship with the non-custodial parent, demographic characteristics, stressful life events during the two years following the divorce, availability of social support, and family adaptability and cohesion. New York City high school students from divorced (n = 221) and intact (n = 215) families completed the survey instrument. Results indicated that the adjustment of adolescents from divorced families was related positively to the psychological adjustment of the custodial parent, the availability of social support, and family adaptability and cohesion. Adolescent adjustment was related negatively to the degree to which the parents displayed anger or physical abuse before and after the separation, and to the number of stressful life changes following the divorce. The factors predicting the adjustment of adolescents from intact families were similar.     

Noncustodial Parents:

Beyond documentation of noncustodial fathers’ failure to pay child support or visit, little is known about the dynamics of noncustodial parenting. Even less is known about the experience of noncustodial mothers. Both of these noncustodial relationships need to be studied, as the data can inform us concerning the role of residential status in relation to the quality of the parent-child relationships. This paper seeks to move beyond status-laden conceptualizations of parenthood which emphasize deficiencies associated with noncustodial parenting situations, and examine specific constraints and opportunities inherent in such arrangements. After divorce, noncustodial parents experience diversity and variation in the quality of relationships with their child(ren) and former spouses. This diversity and variation also emerges in relation to economic circumstances for noncustodial parents. More progressive conceptualizations of parenthood are explored which focus on the quality of nonresidential parent-child relationships as well as how parents implement parenting arrangements postdivorce. Recommendations for methodologies which are sensitive to issues related to diversity and process, as well as policy implications are offered.     

The Interactive Effects of Marital Conflict and Divorce on Parent – Adult Children's Relationships

This study examines main effect and interactive models of the relations between marital conflict, divorce, and parent – adult child relationships and gender differences in these relations. Data were drawn from a longitudinal study of a community sample (N = 585). Parental marital conflict and divorce were measured from age 5 through age 17 years. Mother‐child and father‐child relationship quality at age 22 years was assessed in terms of closeness‐support and conflict‐control. Results indicated that both marital conflict and divorce are associated with poorer quality parent – adult child relationships. Divorce moderated the link between marital conflict and subsequent negativity in mother‐child relationships, with the estimated effects being stronger in continuously married families than in divorced families, especially for women.     

PRACTICE TRENDS IN DIVORCE RELATED CHILD CUSTODY

This article examines the critically growing problem of divorce related child custody. The lack of clear and uniform custody guidelines which should underpin custodial selection is also discussed. The concept of psychological parenthood is offered as one criterion to assist in this crucial selection process; a concept which responds to the best interest of the child as well as to the practical demands inherent in the legal system. The author describes an experimental study of interdisciplinary practice trends among judges and mental health professionals-the two major professions involved in child custody decision-making. Both disciplines were able to select a custodial psychological parent however, differences were evidenced in the criteria they used to make their selection as well as in their satisfaction with these criteria. Practice implications for both professions are discussed.     

Children's Behavior Problems in Single-Parent and Married-Parent Families

Abstract

A model integrating prevailing perspectives on children's functioning following divorce was used to predict children's behavior problems. The data were collected from 30 custodial mothers, 30 custodial fathers, and 30 married parents with children 6 to 10 years of age, using face-to-face interviews and standardized questionnaires. Results using path analysis indicated that marital status and parental control had significant direct effects on children's behavior problems. Sex of parent, economic strain, co-parental conflict, coping with roles, and parenting indirectly influenced children's behavior through parental control. The findings suggest that the pressures inherent in raising a child alone, combined with too few resources for coping with role demands, are disruptive to both parenting and parental control, and that children in single-parent families appear to respond to these deficits with disruptive behaviors. Implications for family practice and policy are discussed.     

Family Adaptations to Income and Job Loss in the U.S.

Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this study examines the extent to which families experience major economic setbacks and how they respond. Families that experience a substantial loss of income or work hours are more likely to cut back on expenditures, receive public assistance, experience divorce or separation, and move. No evidence that partners are able to compensate for a major income loss by increasing their work hours was found. Initial conditions, such as income and assets, the unemployment rate of the area, and race, affect how a family adapts. Families with fewer resources and those who live in areas of high unemployment are more likely to rely on public assistance, and they are less likely to move, increase the work hours of the female head of household, or cut food expenditures.     

The Effect of Childbearing Age on Child Support Awards and Economic Well Being Among Divorcing Mothers

Most teenage mothers eventually marry but are at greater risk for subsequent marital disruption than those who delayed childbearing, and those who began parenting early are likely to experience greater economic insecurity as divorced/separated couples, we compare the economic status of ever-teen mothers and never-teen mothers at the time of divorce. We also examine the potential of an effective child support system to improve economic well being among families initially created by a birth to a teenager. The findings indicate that ever-teen mothers who experience a divorce have lower overall economic well being than their counterparts who delayed childbearing, and the former husbands of these women have less ability to pay child support than the husbands of never-teen mothers.     

The economic fallout from divorce: Issues for the 1990s

Economic consequences of divorce, especially for women, are negative and persistent according to a range of research studies. The question is whether, given changing social circumstances, this negative economic fallout from divorce is likely to diminish in the 1990s and beyond. Dramatic changes suggest both reasons for optimism and pessimism. On the positive side are the trends toward more continuous labor force participation among women and smaller contemporary family sizes. Negative influences include changes in the labor market for women, continuing problems with child support compliance, the persistence of the wage gap, and the difficulties of combining parenting and employment.The writing of this paper was supported in part by National Institute on Aging grants AG04895 and AG06591. We are grateful to Marina Adler, Sharon Price, Mara Skruch and Lynn White for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.(Ph.D., University of Southern California) conducts research on divorce, widowhood, older women's issues, and family support in later life families.(Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) focuses her research on divorce, bereavement, and the impact of life events on adjustment.(Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University) studies economic trends in U.S. society.