Interrelation of child support, visitation, and hours of work

Monthly Labor Review, June, 1992 by Jonathan R. Veum

Yet, the number of fathers who report paying child support is similar to the number of mothers who report receiving child support; both close to 1 million. Consequently, the discrepancy in the total number of men reporting to have children who do not live with them and the number of women with children whose father is absent might occur because fathers who do not pay child support are less likely to reveal the existence of children not living in the household. This conclusion is consistent with a 1983 study by Andrew Cherlin, Jeanne Griffith, and James McCarthy which uses data from the Current Population Survey.[10]

However, the number of mothers reporting that theft children were visited by the father is substantially higher than the number of men reporting visitation. This information indicates that, while a large number of fathers do not pay child support, a much greater number do visit theft children. This also suggests that men who admit to being an absent father are more likely to pay support and visit than are other fathers.

Interrelationships

To examine the relationship between child support payments, visitation, and hours of work, we define four mutually exclusive categories for each parent:

* child support is received or paid, but there is

no visitation;

* visitation occurs, but no child support is

received or paid;

* child support is received or paid and visitation

occurs; and

* child support is not received or paid and

visitation does not occur.

Child support payments and visitation are measurable characteristics of parents, as are marital status, education, race, and father's distance from the child. Together, these variables produce a number of measurable differences among parents by demographic characteristics.

The mothers. Table 1 compares selected characteristics for mothers with custody of the children by receipt of child support payments and the absent father's visitation status. It appears that receiving child support without visitation is relatively rare, occurring in only 5.2 percent of approximately 3.2 million cases.

The data also indicate there is considerable variation by demographic characteristics.[11] For instance, women who are currently divorced are most likely to receive both child support and visitation, probably because child support awards and visitation arrangements often are established as part of divorce settlements. In contrast, a large proportion (39.7 percent) of the mothers who do not receive child support or visitation are currently marned. This result might suggest that marriage or remarriage by the mother reduces the ties between the child and the child's father.[12] A large percentage (37.6 percent) of mothers reporting visitation only have never been married.

In addition, mothers whose children receive visitation only are more likely to have dropped out of high school than are other mothers. Mothers who receive child support only or receive both child support and visitation have a higher percentage among whites than among other races. [13]