Receipt of Child Support by Working Single Women

Abstract

Using logistic regression, the author found that sociodemographic factors, particularly race, education, and number of children/young adults, more than attitudinal factors, distinguished recipients of child support from nonrecipients among formerly married working mothers in 1988 and 1991. In 1991, for formerly married mothers, child-care affinity was the only attitudinal characteristic associated with the likelihood of receiving child support. Because of the small sample sizes, findings about never-married working mothers were more ambiguous. Policy and practice implications are discussed.