It is well documented that there is a wide variation in child support orders set accordingly to state child support guidelines across the states and over time for families in similar circumstances.  (Pirog-Good, 1993a; Pirog, Klotz, & Byers, 1998; Pirog, Elliott, & Grieshop, 2003). Concerns have been raised about the disproportionate financial burden of child support on low-income noncustodial parents (Meyer, 1998).  However, little is known about the impact of the regressivity of child support guidelines on the propensity of low-income single mothers receiving formal and informal child support.  Combining a unique longitudinal survey dataset of state child support guidelines with the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) data, this article represents the first empirical investigation of the regressivity of the child support guidelines on low income families’ child support outcomes.

This article has two aims. First, it examines changes in child support orders over the past twenty years across states employing a longitudinal dataset collected by the authors using a mail survey of the State Courts and Child Support Enforcement Agencies of all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The survey data indicate the widespread regressivity of the CS guidelines across the states and over the years, and especially at the low ends of the income distribution. Second, we combine the guideline survey data with the FFCWS data to examine the regressivity of the CS guidelines on the total package of child support that mothers receive from the nonresident fathers of their children, by focusing on three components of total support: formal cash, informal cash, and in-kind support. Panel analysis with fixed state and year effect is used in the study. Preliminary findings suggest that high guideline amount leads to a decreased probability of low-income mothers receiving formal child support, but does not have a statistically significant impact on the probability of them receiving in-kind child support. These findings underscore the importance of considering noncustodial parents’ ability to pay in setting child support awards and the need to revisit child support guidelines for low income families.