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Basic Facts About Child Support |
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From Center for Law and Social Policy: More than 17 million children and their families received $24 billion in child support in 2006 through the help of the Child Support Enforcement Program. This federal-state partnership has been increasingly effective at collecting child support, now collecting $4.58 for every dollar spent. But the success of this program is in jeopardy. Starting in October 2007, a federal funding cut will reduce state enforcement efforts by $6.7 billion over 10 years, which will deprive children of at least $11 billion in the support they are owed over the same decade. Hurting millions of low-income children by cutting a program of proven effectiveness makes no sense. Because of federal and state investments, child support collection rates have more than doubled over the past decade. Total child support collections are growing much faster than expenditures. Losing the federal match on incentive payments will cost states $937 million in FY 2008 that they would otherwise invest in improved collections; over 10 years they will lose almost $7 billion. Percentages show the share of the $5b savings from each program. Most poor children growing up in single parent families receive support enforcement services from state and county child support programs funded under title IV-D -- 17 million children and their parents. Child support is 31% of family income of poor single mother families when received -- the second largest source after earnings. 43 percent of poor single custodial mothers receive child support.
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