Child Support, Routine Income Withholding, and Postdivorce Income for Divorced Mothers and Their Children

The Institute's Discussion Paper series is designed to describe, and to elicit comments on, work in progress. Its papers should be considered working drafts. Child support reform has been proposed as a way of reducing "welfare dependency " and countering the "feminization of poverty " while increasing the well-being of children living in single-parent households. The federal government and some states have already begun to change laws regarding the establishment of child support awards and the collection of payments. Routine income withholding of child support payments, mandated by the 1988 Family Support Act, is designed to increase the proportion of child support collected. This paper assesses its effects on postdivorce income by using data from a demonstration of routine withholding in ten Wisconsin counties. Unfortunately, the data conclude that routine income withholding will have only a small effect on postdivorce income. The authors suggest that to substantially increase postdivorce income, as well as child support, awards in more family court cases must be established, the amount of those awards must be greater, and the collection rate for those who have awards must be improved. Child Support, Routine Income Withholding, and Postdivorce Income for Divorced Mothers and Their Childre