The issue of child support has become increasingly prominent on the policy and research agenda, as growing numbers of children are raised by single parent mothers. Underresearched areas have been the nature and distribution of child support as well as the outcomes, for the mothers involved, of various levels of child support awards. This study will provide a broad picture of the child support process, including the identification of subgroups in particular need of child support assistance. This work is important in that it locates child support within a larger context, including related decisions made during the divorce process, other monetary transfers between fathers and mothers, and the legal environment. The proposed research will use secondary data to examine the impact of a number of factors on child support outcomes, including the economic needs of the mothers and children, the resources available to them, the ability and motivation of the fathers, and the nature of the legal environment. Previous studies have focused almost exclusively on the characteristics of the mothers. The impact of child support on subsequent life-course transitions will also be ascertained, including remarriage, schooling and labor force participation. The data will be drawn from follow-up surveys of the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. It has been estimated that 50 percent of children born recently will experience life in a single-parent family. The increase in female- headed families is of particular concern, given that such families often lack the financial resources to be self-sufficient. Child support payments have been touted as the solution to the financial plight of single-parent families. This study will illuminate the nature, distribution and consequences of such support.
