Child Support Facts and Figures

CHILD SUPPORT STATISTICS:  

There are about 13.6 million custodial parents in the United States. 
    -U.S. Census Bureau, Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2005, released August 2007  

In the four years from 1996 to 2000, the amount of child support owed in the United States went from $45 billion to $89 billion 
    -U.S. General Accounting Office, Child Support Enforcement:  Clear Guidance Would Help Ensure Access to Information and Use of Wage Withholding by Private Firms, 2002  

One in four divorced Americans are supposed to receive child support or alimony. 
    - www.Divorce360.com, Child Support Poll Results, conducted by GFK Roper Public Affairs and Media, 2007  

More than half of custodial parents have some sort of agreement to receive financial support from the noncustodial parent. 
    -U.S. Census Bureau, Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2005, released August 2007  

Most child support arrangements are formal, legal agreements.
     -U.S. Census Bureau, Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2005, released August 2007  

Of those who are supposed to receive spousal support, 49 percent are not receiving any of it, fighting to get it, or have completely given up trying to get it. 
    - www.Divorce360.com, Child Support Poll Results, conducted by GFK Roper Public Affairs and Media, 2007  

Almost one-quarter of custodial parents with child support orders receive no payments at all. 
    -U.S. Census Bureau, Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2005, released August 2007
 
About 25 percent of divorced Americans are receiving all of the support to which they are entitled.
    - www.Divorce360.com, Child Support Poll Results, conducted by GFK Roper Public Affairs and Media, 2007  

There is no statistical difference in the number of custodial mothers and custodial fathers who receive full child support payments. 
    -U.S. Census Bureau, Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2005, released August 2007  

Five of every six custodial parents are mothers. 
    -U.S. Census Bureau, Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2005, released August 2007  

The number of custodial mothers in poverty is 27.7 percent. The percentage of custodial fathers in poverty is 11.1.
     -U.S. Census Bureau, Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2005, released August 2007 

The average amount of child support a custodial parent receives is $5,600 a year or $465 per month.
     -U.S. Census Bureau, Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2005, released August 2007  

Approximately 75 percent are not receiving all of their court-ordered child support. 
    - www.Divorce360.com, Child Support Poll Results, conducted by GFK Roper Public Affairs and Media, 2007  

The most effective child support payment enforcement technique is wage withholding. 
    -U.S. General Accounting Office, Child Support Enforcement:  Clear Guidance Would Help Ensure Access to Information and Use of Wage Withholding by Private Firms, 2002  

Collection agencies, both private and governmental, reported that the most common reasons they could not collect owed child support were:  (1) The agency could not find the noncustodial parent;  (2)  The noncustodial parent had no money;  or (3) The noncustodial parent was in jail.
     -U.S. General Accounting Office, Child Support Enforcement:  Clear Guidance Would Help Ensure Access to Information and Use of Wage Withholding by Private Firms, 2002