Deadbeat Dads or Inept States?

Irwin Garfinkel, Cynthia Miller, Sara S. McLanahan and Thomas L. Hanson
Additional contact information
Irwin Garfinkel: Columbia University
Cynthia Miller: Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation
Sara S. McLanahan: Princeton University
Thomas L. Hanson: University of California, Riverside

Evaluation Review, 1998, vol. 22, issue 6, 717-750

Abstract: This article provides information on the effectiveness of state child support enforcement systems. We use individual level datafrom the Child Support Supplements of the Current Population Sur veys (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.

Date: 1998
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:evarev:v:22:y:1998:i:6:p:717-750

DOI: 10.1177/0193841X9802200602

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