The Economic Reality of Nonresident Mothers and Their Children
The Urban Institute
Understanding who these mothers are and how their children are faring is important for social policy in general and, specifically, for the child support program.
Despite their large and growing numbers and policy relevance, nonresident mothers and their children have remained largely under the radar. Considerable research has been devoted to understanding nonresident fathers and their children, but this literature does not necessarily offer insight into nonresident mothers and their support of nonresident children.
The brief uses data from the 2002 National Survey of America's Families (NSAF), one of the few nationally representative surveys with data on nonresident mothers.
It shows that nonresident mothers have demographic characteristics similar to nonresident fathers but differ in two important ways: nonresident mothers are more likely to be living with some of their children than nonresident fathers, and fewer nonresident mothers are working.
Children living apart from both their parents, however, experience relatively high rates of poverty and, depending on the circumstances of these arrangements, may benefit from increased child support enforcement.
The NSAF includes a household roster that identifies whether the biological or adoptive parents of the focal child are usual residents in the household.
If either parent is missing from the household roster, the survey asks the most knowledgeable adult (MKA) of the focal child the following questions: "Does (child) have a mother who lives somewhere else?"
