Child Support Obligations

Abstract

The attitudes of 160 men and 264 women randomly selected from five nonurban midwestern communities were examined to (a) determine how much child support a nonresidential father is perceived to be obligated to pay; (b) assess how perceived obligations vary by gender of participant, legal custody arrangement, changes in parents' marital status, and father's financial status; and (c) explore the rationale used in making judgments about child support obligations. A vignette technique was used. Most participants (78%) indicated a child support amount that was less than state guidelines. Participants thought child support amounts should be reduced when mothers remarried and when fathers' financial status changed. Perceptions of child support obligations held by men and women did not differ, and custody arrangements were not related to attitudes about child support. Qualitative analyses of rationale underlying attitudes suggested that notions of fairness guided respondents' reasoning.