Skip to main content

Informal Child Support Contributions in Black Female-Headed Families

The Review of Black Political Economy volume 39, pages 259–265 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Key reforms to child support enforcement have aimed at increasing formal child support awards, levels and receipts. However, the role of child support contributions outside the formal child support system has been largely ignored. This study draws critical attention to these informal child support contributions, with chief focus on informal child support receipts of Black mothers. The study finds that Black mothers are significantly more likely to receive informal cash and in-kind child support contributions relative to other mothers, especially when non-resident fathers are also Black.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Notes

  1. The interaction effect between Black mothers and father involvement is not statistically different from zero, signifying that the positive effect of father involvement is not unique to Black female-headed households. Other interaction effects (not shown) such as mother’s race interacted with education do not yield statistically significant findings.

References

  • Argys LM, Peters HE, Brooks-Gunn J, Smith JR. Impact of Child Support on Cognitive Outcomes of Young Children. Demography. 1998;35(2):159–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bassi L, Lerman R. Reducing the child support disincentive problem. J Pol Anal Manag. 1996;15:89–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edin K. Single mothers and child support: the possibilities and limits of child support policy. Child Youth Serv Rev. 1995;17(1/2):203–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman RB, Waldfogel J. Dunning delinquent dads: the effects of child support enforcement policy on child support receipt by never married mothers. J Hum Resour. 2001;36(2):207–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham JW, Beller AH, Hernandez PM. The effects of child support on educational attainment. In: Garfinkel I, McLanahan S, Robins PK, editors. Child support and child well-being. Urban Institute Press: Washington; 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang C, Pouncy H. Why doesn’t she have a child support order?: Personal choice or objective constraint. Fam Relat. 2005;54:547–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson W. Paternal involvement among unwed fathers. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2001;23(6/7):513–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knox V. The effects of child support payments on developmental outcomes for elementary school-age children. J Hum Resour. 1996;31(4):816–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer DR, Hu M-C. A note on the antipoverty effectiveness of child support among mother-only families. J Hum Resour. 1999;34:225–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nepomnyaschy L. Child support and father-child contact: testing reciprocal pathways. Demography. 2007;44(1):93–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nepomnyaschy L, Garfinkel I. Child support enforcement and fathers’ contributions to their non-marital children. Soc Serv Rev. 2010;84(3):341–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pate Jr D. Nonexperiment analyses of the full disregard and pass-through vol. 2. In: Meyer DR, Cancian M, editors. Report to the Wisconsin department of workforce development. Madison: Institute for Research on Poverty; 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorenson E, Hill A. Single mothers and their child-support receipt. J Hum Resour. 2004;39(1):135–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waller M, Plotnick R. Effective child support policy for low-income families: evidence from street level research. J Pol Anal Manag. 2001;20(1):89–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Connecticut College, Box 5308, 270 Mohegan Avenue, New London, CT, 06320-4196, USA

    Terry-Ann L. Craigie

Authors
  1. Terry-Ann L. Craigie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Terry-Ann L. Craigie.

About this article

Cite this article

Craigie, TA.L. Informal Child Support Contributions in Black Female-Headed Families. Rev Black Polit Econ 39, 259–265 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12114-011-9115-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12114-011-9115-1

Keywords

  • Informal child support
  • Black mothers